Macut: EU integration stall not as big as it seems

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Djuro Macut said on Tuesday Serbia was facing a stall on its EU integration path but that it was not as prominent as it seemed.

Speaking to the RTS, Macut said that, at a session on Monday, the government had decided to set up an operating team to accelerate the progress on the EU path.

"We do have a stall somewhere, but it is not as big as it may seem. In fact, we sometimes make steps that are too far ahead, and then a law or a legal procedure is returned. That is just what we have right now - several proposals have been returned from Brussels for additional work and harmonisation. They are good and prepared, but to accelerate that somehow, the coordination body has been established," he said.

Macut added that the body had been set up following a logical proposal by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and that it would analyse the situation on a weekly basis and contribute to more efficient coordination and communication with EU institutions.

"The coordination body will be headed by our ambassador to the EU, and the members will be six ministers from departments related to the accession talks, as well as my direct representative from the Office of the Prime Minister. It will be an operating body that will be analysing the situation very intensively, on a weekly basis. We need to have input from Brussels, because it is really such a machinery that you do not know who you should contact," Macut said.

At Sunday's theme session of the Government of Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic proposed the establishment of the operating team to boost capacities and accelerate the path to Serbia's EU accession.