Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic met with the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and discussed Serbia’s progress in the area of judiciary, fight against corruption and human rights. They also discussed Serbia’s drafting progress of the Action Plan for the Negotiations Chapter 23.
At the meeting, Minister Selakovic stated that Serbia had adopted the National Judicial Reform Strategy for the period 2013-2018 and the National Anti-Corruption Strategy for the period 2013-2018, and the corresponding implementation action plans. He explained that both strategies had been undergoing implementation for over a year. He emphasised that progress in the promotion of the legislative framework had already been noted and that intensive work was still being done on the framework. However, he said, satisfactory results could not be expected without a consistent implementation of the framework.
Commissioner Hahn ascertained that one of Serbia’s main priorities in the upcoming years of the negotiations process ought to be economic recovery and development. He stated that the development and the promotion of the rule of law had to primarily be directed towards this priority.
At the end of the meeting, Selakovic emphasised that Serbia was expected to have the final draft of the Action Plan of Negotiations for Chapter 23 by the end December 2014. He said that the Action Plan would then be forwarded to the European Commission for adoption before the opening of the Chapter.