Toespraak Commissaris Rehn over Servië en de EU (en)

"Serbia's European Road"

European Parliament Plenary Session

Strasbourg, 24 October 2007

President, Honourable Members,

I would like to congratulate Mr Kacin on his solid report that captures the essential aspects of the current state of EU-Serbian relations.

I have asked my services to follow up on recommendations of the report, which has been useful for the preparation of the Commission's annual Progress Report due to be adopted on 6 November.

The report highlights a number of areas where both the European Union and Serbia need to intensify efforts, and which I fully support.

I particularly agree on the importance granted to visa facilitation and on the call for progress next on visa liberalisation. I am confident that the visa facilitation and readmission agreements will enter into force in January 2008 as planned. I fully endorse that "mobility grants people the opportunity to gain first hand experience of the EU and facilitates Serbia's European integration process".

Precisely for this reason the Commission has indicated its intention to start a dialogue in early 2008 with each of the Western Balkan countries on a roadmap for visa liberalisation by defining its requirements. This is of immense importance, not least to give concrete evidence to the young generation of what Europe means.

President, Honourable Members,

We are at a critical juncture in our relations with Serbia. Over the past fortnight I have had intense discussions with Member States and the Serbian authorities on the state of affairs. It will come as no surprise that the Kosovo status process and the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, including ICTY conditionality, have been our main items.

The 10 Dec deadline of Kosovo talks is approaching and the work of the international Troika is entering a crucial phase. We fully support the work of the EU representative, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger.

It is now essential that the two parties, Belgrade and Pristina, assume their responsibilities and engage seriously in creative proposals that will result in a negotiated, sustainable solution. I welcome the troika's engagement to intensify the process up to the 10 December deadline.

I have also had intensive discussions with both Member States and the Serbian authorities on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. This Agreement will constitute a political milestone in our relations with Serbia, and a concrete step in its European anchorage.

The Commission has finalised technical work on the text of the draft Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which is currently been assessed by Member States in the Council working group.

We are working intensively with Member States to complete a review of the text, so that we are, as the EU, technically ready to sign the Agreement soon, provided that the political conditions are in place, namely full cooperation with ICTY leading to the arrest of the remaining indictees. This is, to my understanding, in line with the recommendation of your report addressed to the Council.

The level of cooperation of Serbia with the ICTY has triggered quite a lively and serious debate over the past days, following a presentation of the ICTY Chief Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, to the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 15 October.

As I have said before, for the moment I see the glass rather half full than half empty. I have made it clear to the Serbian government that signature of the SAA is within reach. It is now a question of political will. We are ready, once Serbia is ready by meeting the conditions. The ball is now in Serbia ' s court.

We have to appreciate Serbia for the efforts she has made until now. This tends to be too often forgotten in our debates. Since 2004, Serbia has cooperated in locating and handing over 20 of the 24 ICTY indictees. This shows that our policy of conditionality works.

The recent decision to offer a financial reward for information on the whereabouts of the remaining four fugitives was an encouraging sign of renewed political commitment. This is positive but not sufficient. ICTY cooperation cannot be a stop-start process and more needs to be done to reach full co-operation, in particular on access to documents and archives, and intensified search operations.

Carla Del Ponte will return to Belgrade tomorrow (25 October) and we shall take her findings strongly into account when making our assessment on initialling of the SAA.

Signature will then depend on full cooperation with ICTY. This requires Serbia to do everything in its powers to locate the fugitives and provide the ICTY with all necessary information leading to their arrest and transfer to The Hague.

President, Honourable Members,

I want to conclude by what I have said on numerous occasions and I will repeat it, be it for the sake of consistency: Serbia has tremendous economic and intellectual potential that is just waiting to be released in the pursuit of the country's European future.

The Commission is fully committed to Serbia's European perspective. I am convinced that the country can make great relatively rapid progress on its European road once it meets the essential conditions.

This is crucial, not just for its European aspirations, but for the stability and progress of the Western Balkans. It is high time for Serbia to turn the page on its painful past, and fully approach its European future.