Overzicht van proces en onderwerpen van EU-geleide gesprekken tussen Kosovo en Servië (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Raad van de Europese Unie (Raad) i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 9 maart 2011.

PRESS STATEMENT

EU facilitated dialogue: A positive start

Brussels, 8-9 March 2011

A first meeting of the dialogue foreseen in UN General Assembly Resolution 298 was held with the facilitation of the EU on 8-9 March, in Brussels. The meeting was chaired by EU facilitator, Mr. Cooper. The Serbian delegation was led by Mr. Stefanovic and the Kosovo delegation by Ms. Tahiri.

The meeting took place in a constructive and cordial atmosphere, and was informative and productive. Both sides reiterated their commitment to the dialogue and their willingness to continue the process.

The facilitator outlined the aims of the dialogue: to remove obstacles that have a negative impact on people’s daily lives, to improve cooperation, and to achieve progress on the path to Europe.

This first meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the availability of verifiable information from civil registry books as well as information on cadastre, issues with direct impact on the daily lives of people. Both parties agreed that this information should be made available to provide legal certainty to citizens.

The meeting also discussed regional trade and freedom of movement of goods, an issue of particular importance for the economic development of the small individual markets which compose the South Eastern Europe region. The CEFTA agreement, which is the basis of the establishment of an open regional market, is key to the economic development in the region. The two parties reviewed positively their participation to CEFTA and confirmed that they will participate during the 2011 Chairmanship.

The parties also touched on the issues of telecommunications and aviation - two areas where cooperation opens up the prospect of better services for customers, more economic efficiency and more environmentally friendly practices.

The parties look forward to discussing these and other topics at upcoming meetings. There was agreement that a second meeting should take place shortly.

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