Written answers

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

EU Enlargement

Photo of John BrowneJohn Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the discussions he has held with Serbia on their accession talks with the EU; the outcome of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44880/12]

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I held discussions with the Serbian Foreign Minister, Mr Ivan Mrkič, in New York on 27 September, during which the issue of Serbia’s EU perspective was touched on, particularly in the context of the requirement for a visible and sustainable improvement of relations with Kosovo. I confirmed that we were looking forward to working with Serbia during our six-month Presidency. On 25 September, Minister of State Creighton visited Belgrade as part of a five day official visit to the region. She was there both as the representative of the Chair in Office of the OSCE and to build working relationships with some key interlocutors involved in Serbia’s progress towards the EU, in the context of Ireland’s Presidency next year.

The Minister of State held a series of meetings with leading figures in the new Serbian government and parliament, including Prime Minister Dačić and Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Suzana Grubješić. Both recognised that, due to the recent elections in Serbia, and the time taken to form a new government, there had been little progress on the reform agenda in the previous 6 months. However, they committed to renewed efforts and underlined the steps which the new government has taken towards implementing the agreements reached in the dialogue with Priština. Minister Creighton stressed that Ireland stood ready during our Presidency to support actively Serbia’s ambition, taking account of the Copenhagen criteria. This included the possibility that a date for opening of accession negotiations might be fixed during our semester.

Since then, the Commission’s assessment in its report on enlargement, issued on 10 October, was that Serbia continues on its way to sufficiently fulfilling the political criteria. While recognising progress, the Commission pointed to further work needed on rule of law issues and relations with Kosovo before it could recommend the opening of accession negotiations. The Commission is to report further to the Council as soon as the necessary progress has been achieved.

The Commission’s report of 10 October will now be considered by EU Member States with a view to taking decisions on its recommendations at the General Affairs and European Council meetings in December.

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