First chapters to open in 2015

BRUSSELS - The first chapters in Serbia's EU accession process should not be opened before the beginning of the next year, Tanjug learnt from diplomatic sources in Brussels.

The current mood among member countries is that additional efforts are still needed in the implementation of the Brussels agreement before an intergovernmental conference on the opening of chapters can be organised, Tanjug learnt in the EU seat.

According to the sources, most member countries agree with Germany's stand that the intergovernmental conference should not be organised before full implementation of the provisions of the agreement on normalisation of the Belgrade-Pristina relations reached in April 2014.

The recently reached agreement on recognition of university degrees has not been fully implemented yet, and the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on the solution to the problems in the judiciary, energy and telecommunications, he noted.

Tanjug's source said that there is a theoretical possibility for organising the intergovernmental conference during the meeting of the EU Council in Luxembourg on October 24, but the odds for this are minimal.

Brussels officials say that they are aware that a good portion of the blame for the halt in the dialogue and delay in the implementation of the agreement rests on Pristina, where the government has not been constituted although three months have passed since the parliamentary elections, although they also say that Belgrade was also supposed to invest greater efforts and ensure that the already reached agreements are implemented.

Photo Tanjug/M. Jelesijevic (illustration, archive)