EU commissioner "shares same goal" with PM

EU commissioner "shares same goal" with PM

BELGRADE -- Stefan Fule expects the screening for 18 chapters in Serbia's EU accession process to be finished or in the final stage by the end of the Greek presidency.

So far screening has been completed for seven chapters, while for seven others it is under way, the EU enlargement commissioner said at a joint press conference after the talks with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade on Monday.

"This is an exceptional result and reflection of great effort by the Serbian side," Fule said, adding that screening has not been suspended at any point, not even during the election process in Serbia.

He said that the further negotiating process will be based on three pillars.

The first one is made of chapter 23 on judiciary and fundamental right and chapter 24 on justice, freedom and security, he said.

"I expect Serbia to present the action plan for these chapters by the end of the Greek presidency so that screening could follow, " Fule said, adding that these chapters should be opened early in 2015.

The second pillar refers to economic governance, which is a new EU approach - to strengthen the competitiveness of the Serbian economy during the negotiating process so that the citizens could enjoy benefits even before the EU accession.

The third pillar refers to the further progress of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Priština, the European commissioner said.

"Our talks have showed full compatibility in the approach. It is crucial first to focus on the economic reforms both on the ones which would have a long-term impact on the life of citizens and the ones which would have a short-term effect, "...