Apostolovic: All actors in EU accession talks must assume responsibility for reforms

BELGRADE - Serbia's Operating Team for EU Accession met in the government building on Monday.

The team's chair Danijel Apostolovic, who is also Serbia's chief negotiator in the accession process, noted that all actors in the accession talks must "assume their share of responsibility for delivering results and implementing key reforms".

"Ambassador Apostolovic reported that, at the meeting he held in his capacity as Chief Negotiator with representatives of the negotiating groups, an overview of the situation in each individual chapter was presented, along with key activities for the upcoming period and potential challenges that need to be addressed in certain areas.

Apostolovic emphasised that all actors in the accession negotiation process must assume their share of responsibility for delivering results and implementing key reforms, which, as he stated, will be monitored more intensively on a regular basis.

He also stressed the necessity of fulfilling all obligations from the Reform Agenda within the framework of the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, on which the disbursement of significant funds depends", the Serbian government said in a statement.

Apostolovic also announced a "continuation of bilateral meetings with representatives of relevant institutions, as well as the establishment of additional inter-ministerial working groups, in order to implement obligations more efficiently and meet the criteria for EU membership".

"Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ana Brnabic provided a detailed update on work related to the implementation of OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, while First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali presented an overview of the situation in the chapters within his remit.

Mali devoted particular attention to meeting the benchmarks for opening Cluster 2 (Internal Market), especially legislative activities within the scope of Chapter 8 (Competition).

Minister of Justice Nenad Vujic and Acting Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior Veljko Odalovic informed those present about the steps being taken to meet the interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24, in line with the plans for key activities agreed with the European Commission", the government said, adding that "more detailed discussions were held on the implementation of the Reform Agenda, preparations for meeting the criteria for Serbia’s inclusion in the roam like at home regime once agreement on this issue is reached at the EU level, administrative capacities for tasks related to Serbia’s European integration, and other related issues".