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The European Parliament,
having regard to the Presidency conclusions of
the Thessaloniki European Council of 19 and 20 June 2003 concerning
the prospect of the Western Balkan countries joining the European
Union,
having regard to Council Decision 2008/213/EC
of 18 February 2008 on the principles, priorities and conditions
contained in the European Partnership with Serbia and repealing
Decision 2006/56/EC(1),
having regard to the Commission opinion of 12
October 2011 on Serbia’s application for membership of the European
Union (SEC(2011)1208),
having regard to the Stabilisation and
Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Communities and
their Member States and the Republic of Serbia that entered into
force on 1 September 2013,
having regard to UN Security Council resolution
1244 (1999), to the advisory opinion of the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) of 22 July 2010 on the question of the accordance with
international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in
respect of Kosovo, and to UN General Assembly resolution
A/RES/64/298 of 9 September 2010, which acknowledged the content of
the opinion and welcomed the readiness of the EU to facilitate the
dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo,
having regard to the Declaration and
Recommendations from the fourth EU-Serbia Stabilisation and
Association Parliamentary Committee meeting of 7-8 October 2015,
having regard to the outcome of the High-level
Conference on the Eastern Mediterranean – Western Balkans route on 8
October 2015 in Luxembourg,
having regard to the Justice and Home Affairs
Council conclusions on measures to handle the refugee and migration
crisis of 9 November 2015, and to the Foreign Affairs Council
conclusions on migration of 12 October 2015,
having regard to the 17-point plan agreed at
the meeting on the Western Balkans migration route held among the
leaders of EU Member States and non-EU Member States concerned by
the influx of refugees and migrants on 25 October 2015,
having regard to the Commission’s 2015 progress
report on Serbia of 10 November 2015 (SWD(2015)0211),
having regard to its resolution of 11 March
2015 on the 2014 progress report on Serbia(2),
having regard to its resolution of 15 April
2015 on the occasion of International Roma Day – anti-Gyspyism in
Europe and EU recognition of the memorial day of the Roma genocide
during World War II(3),
having regard to the Council conclusions of 15
December 2015 on enlargement and stabilisation and association
processes,
having regard to the work of David McAllister
as the Foreign Affairs Committee’s standing rapporteur on Serbia,
having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of
Procedure,
A. whereas the European Council of 28 June 2013
decided to open accession negotiations with Serbia; whereas the
first intergovernmental conference (IGC) took place on 21 January
2014; whereas the screening process was completed in March 2015;
whereas Serbia had fully established its negotiating team in
September 2015;
B. whereas in the 2015 report on Serbia the
Commission reports on Serbia’s progress towards European
integration, assessing its efforts to comply with the Copenhagen
criteria and the conditionality of the Stabilisation and Association
Process; whereas the Commission has applied a new approach to
reporting which provides much clearer guidance to the countries in
question on what they have to focus on;
C. whereas Serbia, like every country aspiring to
EU membership, must be judged on its own merits in terms of
fulfilling, implementing and complying with the same set of
criteria, and whereas the countries’ dedication to the necessary
reforms and their quality determine the timetable for accession;
D. whereas Serbia has taken important steps
towards the normalisation of relations with Kosovo, resulting in the
First Agreement of Principles Governing the Normalisation of
Relations of 19 April 2013; whereas four important agreements were
reached on 25 August 2015; whereas progress in Serbia’s accession
negotiations needs to be made in parallel with progress in the
process of normalisation of relations with Kosovo in line with the
negotiating framework; whereas further efforts remain vital in order
to permanently calm these relations; whereas it is of the utmost
importance that all the agreements are fully implemented by both
parties;
E. whereas Serbia became the 33rd participating
state in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in July 2015;
F. whereas the EU has highlighted the need to
strengthen economic governance, the rule of law and public
administration capacities in all of the Western Balkan countries;
G. whereas the EU has placed the rule of law at
the core of its enlargement policy;
H. whereas in January 2015 Serbia took the chair
of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE);
1. Welcomes the opening of the negotiations and
the opening of Chapters 32 (Financial control) and 35 (Other issues
– Item 1: Normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo) at
the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels on 14 December 2015;
welcomes the continued commitment by Serbia to the European
integration process; calls on Serbia to actively promote this
strategic decision among the Serbian public; notes with satisfaction
that Serbia has embarked on an ambitious reform agenda; calls on
Serbia to tackle decisively and head-on the systemic and
socio-economic reforms; urges Serbia to devote particular attention
to its young people when implementing its reforms;
2. Welcomes the preparations by Serbia to
effectively start the accession negotiations with the conclusion of
the screening process, and the preparation and submission of
comprehensive action plans for Chapters 23 (Judiciary and
fundamental rights) and 24 (Justice, freedom and security);
expresses the hope that these chapters can be opened early in 2016;
stresses that thorough negotiations of Chapters 23 and 24 are
essential to address the reforms that have to be carried out and
implemented in the areas of judiciary and fundamental rights and of
justice, freedom and security; recalls that progress in these areas
will need to be made in parallel with progress in the negotiations
overall; stresses that the negotiation of Chapter 35 is of crucial
importance for Serbia’s progress on its path towards EU integration;
takes the view, in this regard, that the full normalisation of
relations between Serbia and Kosovo is an important condition for
Serbia’s accession to the EU;
3. Underlines that the thorough implementation of
legislation and policies remain a key indicator of a successful
integration process; encourages Serbia’s political leaders to
continue with the reforms needed for alignment with EU standards;
calls on Serbia to improve the planning, coordination and monitoring
of the implementation of new legislation and policies;
4. Welcomes Serbia’s progress in the business
environment, in reducing the budget deficit, and in the labour
market, including in labour legislation and employment policy;
encourages the Serbian authorities to further improve the investment
climate across Serbia and reduce the economic and social disparities
between its regions, to ensure the protection of foreign investments
and to solve longstanding investment disputes, and, while
acknowledging progress in the restructuring of public companies,
points to the importance of further relevant advancement and
transparency in the privatisation process; stresses the need for
Serbia to align its legislation on state aid control with the
acquis;
5. Welcomes the progress on economic reforms,
which improved Serbia’s budgetary situation, and calls on the
Commission to continue supporting the government in its plans to
conduct further reforms, especially in addressing fiscal imbalances
and reforms of major sectors of the economy;
6. Commends Serbia’s constructive approach in
dealing with the migration crisis; notes, however, that a
constructive approach with neighbouring countries should be
fostered; notes that Serbia is an essential and helpful partner of
the EU in the Balkans, and that it is therefore indispensable that
the EU provide resources and adequate financial help; takes positive
note of Serbia’s substantial effort to ensure that third country
nationals receive shelter and humanitarian supplies with EU and
international support; calls on Serbia to swiftly increase its
reception capacities; notes that comprehensive reforms are needed to
rationalise the whole asylum system and to bring it into line with
the EU acquis and international standards; notes that Serbia has
taken further measures to address unfounded asylum applications
lodged by Serbian nationals in EU Member States and
Schengen-associated countries; calls on Serbia to contribute to a
further decrease in unfounded applications; highlights that the
capacity and resources to allow returnees to reintegrate remain
limited;
7. Calls on Serbia to make greater efforts and to
progressively align its foreign and security policy with that of the
EU, including its policy on Russia; considers, in this context,
conducting joint Serbia – Russia military exercises regrettable;
welcomes Serbia’s active participation in international peacekeeping
operations;
Rule of law
8. Emphasises the key importance of the principles
of the rule of law; stresses the vital importance of an independent
judiciary; notes that, while some progress has been made in the area
of judiciary, namely in adopting rules for evaluating judges and
prosecutors, political interference remains high; notes that the
professional judicial bodies are demanding to be provided with
adequate resources; calls on the authorities to implement the
national judicial reform strategy as set out in the action plan for
Chapter 23 and to ensure independence of the judiciary and that the
work of judges and prosecutors is free from political influence;
calls on the government to adopt a new law on free legal aid and to
introduce legal changes to address the quality and consistency of
judicial practice and judicial education; expresses concern at the
continuous backlog of court cases, despite the Supreme Court of
Cassation’s reduction programme in this regard, and urges Serbia to
make further steps in order to increase confidence in the judiciary;
9. Reminds the Serbian Government to implement the
Law on Rehabilitation fully and in a non-discriminatory manner;
suggests to the Serbian Government to make further amendments to the
Law on Restitution in order to remove all procedural obstacles and
legal impediments concerning restitution in kind;
10. Notes that corruption and organised crime are
widespread in the region and also represent an obstacle to Serbia’s
democratic, social and economic development; notes that some
progress has been made in the fight against corruption, which
nevertheless remains an element of concern in Serbia, through
continued implementation of legislation and the adoption of the law
on whistle-blower protection; stresses the need to build a track
record on investigations and final indictments on corruption,
including high-level corruption and the need to coordinate and
monitor the full implementation of the anti-corruption strategy as
set out in the action plan for Chapter 23 in all key institutions;
calls on the authorities to ensure that the Anti-Corruption Agency
and Anti-Corruption Council are able to perform their mandate fully
and effectively and that state institutions follow up on their
recommendations; considers that a regional strategy and enhanced
cooperation between all the countries in the region are essential to
tackle these issues more effectively; calls on academic
institutions, together with state authorities and public officials,
to adopt rules in this area in order to investigate cases of
plagiarism and prevent future cases;
11. Calls on the Serbian authorities to amend and
implement the economic and corruption crimes section of the Criminal
Code in order to provide a credible and predictable criminal law
framework; reiterates once more its deep concern at the provisions
and implementation of Article 234 of the Criminal Code on abuse of
responsible positions; calls once again for an independent and
thorough review of the reclassified cases related to abuse of
responsible positions, so that longstanding unjust prosecutions can
be dropped immediately;
12. Notes that more effort must be made in the
fight against organised crime and that a track record in final
convictions must be built, as set out in the action plan for Chapter
24; calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide expert
support in order to establish an institutional framework and
expertise to fight organised crime effectively; calls, in this
regard, for direct cooperation between the law enforcement
authorities of Serbia and Kosovo and the liaison offices in Belgrade
and Pristina;
Democracy
13. Takes note of the efforts to improve the
consultation process in parliament and to further increase
parliament’s involvement in the EU accession negotiation process;
remains concerned about the extensive use of urgent procedures in
adopting legislation, including legislation related to the EU
accession process, as such procedures do not always allow for
sufficient consultation of stakeholders and the wider public;
stresses that parliament’s oversight of the executive needs to be
further strengthened; stresses the importance of active and
constructive participation of the opposition in the decision-making
process and democratic institutions; stresses that the funding of
political parties must be transparent and in accordance with the
highest international standards;
14. Stresses the importance of the work of civil
society organisations in a democratic society; notes that
cooperation between the government and civil society organisations
has improved; encourages the Serbian authorities to take additional
measures to ensure a transparent dialogue between civil society and
state institutions, and to increase the effective involvement of
representatives of civil society and of national minorities in the
decision-making process; calls on the authorities to guarantee
adequate financial support for the efficient functioning of civil
society organisations; calls for timely and transparent
communication to citizens, organisations and the general public on
the developments of the accession negotiation process and to
facilitate their broad participation in this process;
15. Reiterates its call on the Serbian Government
to address fully the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR election
observation missions, in particular those ensuring that campaign
financing and the electoral processes should be transparent; calls
on the authorities to properly investigate cases that arose during
municipal elections and other campaign events which have been marked
by violence and claims of intimidation and irregularities;
16. Reiterates the importance of independent
regulatory bodies, including the Ombudsman, in ensuring oversight
and accountability of the executive; calls on the authorities to
provide the Ombudsman with full political and administrative support
for his work and to refrain from exposing him to unjustified
criticism;
17. Welcomes the adoption of a comprehensive
public administration reform action plan, a law on inspection
oversight, a national training strategy for local government and the
law on the maximum number of public sector employees, and calls for
their immediate implementation; highlights the need to depoliticise
and professionalise public administration and to make recruitment
and dismissal procedures more transparent in order to guarantee
professionalism, neutrality and continuity of the public
administration;
Human rights
18. Welcomes the fact that Serbia has an adequate
legal and institutional framework for protecting human rights and
fundamental freedoms; notes, however, the remaining shortcomings in
its implementation, particularly with regard to preventing
discrimination against vulnerable groups, including people with
disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS and LGBTI people; welcomes the
successful Pride March of 20 September 2015; underlines, however,
that discrimination and violence against LGBTI persons is still a
matter of concern; encourages in this connection the government to
address Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 of the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe to member states; expresses concern at the
number of attacks on members of vulnerable groups that have not yet
been fully investigated; moreover expresses concern at the
continuous problem of domestic violence; calls on the authorities to
actively promote respect for human rights for all;
19. Expresses concern that no progress has been
made to improve the situation regarding freedom of expression and of
the media; notes with concern the continuous political pressure
which undermines media independence, resulting in growing
self-censorship by media outlets; is concerned that journalists face
political pressure, intimidation, violence and threats when
exercising their profession; calls on the authorities to investigate
all cases of attacks against journalists and media outlets, which
have prompted strong protests by the International Association of
Journalists; reiterates that the new media laws need to be
implemented in full; emphasises the need for complete transparency
in media ownership and funding of media, as well as
non-discrimination as regards state advertising;
20. Is seriously concerned about repeated leaks to
the media about ongoing criminal investigations, in breach of the
presumption of innocence; calls on the Serbian authorities to
seriously investigate a number of high-profile cases where evidence
of alleged wrongdoing has been presented by the media;
Respect for and protection of minorities
21. Underlines the importance of National Minority
Councils in their role of promoting the rights of national
minorities and their democratic nature, and also encourages the
appropriate and verifiable financing of them; welcomes Serbia’s
commitment in drafting a dedicated Action Plan for National
Minorities, which will further improve the implementation and
development of practices and the legal framework on national
minorities; reiterates its call on Serbia to ensure that the level
of acquired rights and competences is retained in the process of
their legal alignment with the decision of the Constitutional Court
of Serbia, and urges the adoption of the Law on National Minority
Councils as soon as possible for the clarification of their legal
status and the certainty of their jurisdiction; expresses serious
concern about the interruption of transmission of programmes in
minority languages following the announced privatisation of the
media; calls on Serbia to step up its efforts with regard to the
effective and consistent implementation of legislation on protection
of minorities and the non-discriminatory treatment of national
minorities throughout Serbia, including in relation to education,
especially regarding the timely funding and translation of minority
native language textbooks, use of minority languages, representation
in public administration and representative bodies at local,
regional and national levels and access to media and religious
services in minority languages; invites the Serbian Government to
implement all international treaties and bilateral agreements
concerning minority rights;
22. Notes that Vojvodina’s cultural diversity also
contributes to Serbia’s identity; stresses that the autonomy of
Vojvodina should not be weakened and that the law on Vojvodina’s
resources should be adopted without further delay as prescribed by
the constitution;
23. Calls on the Serbian authorities to implement
concrete measures to improve the situation of the Roma, particularly
concerning the provision of personal documents, education, housing,
health care and employment; calls further on the Serbian authorities
to secure equal representation of Roma in public institutions and
public life, including by devoting special attention to the
inclusion of Roma women; stresses that the Roma integration policy
needs to be further strengthened and, taking into account the
violence suffered by minority NGO representatives, that
discrimination must be tackled effectively; looks forward therefore
to seeing the measures of the upcoming Strategy and Action Plan on
Roma inclusion; welcomes in this context the ‘Pristina Declaration’,
which calls on governments and international, intergovernmental and
civil society organisations to thoroughly apply principles of
non-discrimination and equality when working and acting on the
promotion and respect for Roma rights;
Regional cooperation and good-neighbourly
relations
24. Appreciates the constructive approach of the
Serbian Government to relations with neighbouring countries, since
this has enabled substantial progress in both regional cooperation
and closer relations with the EU, and urges Serbia to continue to
build on its good-neighbourly relations; calls on Serbia to promote
good-neighbourly relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes,
which includes promoting a climate of tolerance and condemning all
forms of hate speech or war-time rhetoric and refraining from
gestures such as publicly welcoming the return of individuals
convicted of war crimes; notes that outstanding disputes and issues,
in particular issues of border demarcation, succession, return of
cultural goods and disclosure of Yugoslavian archives should be
resolved in line with international law and established principles,
including through implementation of legally binding agreements,
inter alia the agreement on succession issues, and that bilateral
disputes should be addressed in the early stages of the accession
process in accordance with international law; highlights Serbia’s
constructive role in the framework of the ‘Berlin Process’ and the
Western Balkan Six initiative and its connectivity agenda; welcomes
other initiatives focused on the future of the Western Balkans, in
particular the Brdo Process, which proves to be an important
framework for cooperation in both political and technical fields,
and takes the view that concrete cooperation in areas of mutual
interest can contribute to the stabilisation of the Western Balkans;
welcomes, in this respect, the first Serbia – Bosnia and Herzegovina
joint ministerial meeting, which took place on 4 November 2015 in
Sarajevo; calls on Serbia to further promote the stabilisation and
institutional strengthening of Bosnia and Herzegovina through its
existing contacts and good-neighbourly relations with the country;
reiterates its call on the Serbian authorities to initiate further
measures for cross-border cooperation with the neighbouring EU
Member States, including the Cross-border and Transnational
Cooperation Programmes 2014-2020 and the EU Strategy for the Danube
Region; welcomes the idea of starting negotiations for the signing
of a treaty on good-neighbourly relations with its neighbours, and
hopes that this will lead to a more positive development in the
regional context; welcomes the energy and transport infrastructure
cooperation meeting of the Bulgarian, Romanian and Serbian prime
ministers;
25. Encourages Serbia to further cooperate with
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY), in the spirit of reconciliation and good-neighbourly
relations; underlines the importance of an overarching national
strategy for domestic handling of war crimes; urges the authorities
to continue working on the issue of the fate of missing persons, as
well as on preparing a reparation scheme for victims and their
families as an important precondition for reconciliation, ensuring
the right of victims’ families to know the fate of their missing
family members; points out that a law on civilian victims should be
adopted without any undue delay bearing in mind that the existing
legislation does not recognise several groups of war crime victims;
notes that controversies still occur, particularly in the context of
different interpretations of recent history; reiterates its support
for the RECOM initiative, the regional commission for the
establishment of facts about war crimes and other serious violations
of human rights committed in the former Yugoslavia;
26. Welcomes the publication of a draft national
war crimes strategy, which sets out plans for dealing with the
prosecution of crimes committed during the 1990s in the former
Yugoslavia; underlines the need to strengthen and depoliticise
Serbian institutions which deal with war crimes; calls on Serbia to
establish an effective witness and victim protection system and to
provide the victims and their families with the right to
reparations; calls for improving regional cooperation in war crime
cases; reiterates its call on Serbia to re-examine its legislation
on jurisdiction in war crime proceedings in the spirit of
reconciliation and good-neighbourly relations together with the
Commission and with its neighbours;
27. Welcomes Serbia’s continued engagement in the
normalisation process with Kosovo, and the finalisation of key
agreements on 25 August 2015, namely on the establishment of the
Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo, on
energy, on telecoms and on the Mitrovica Bridge; urges Serbia to
swiftly implement its part of these agreements and to engage
constructively with Kosovo in formulating and implementing future
agreements; notes that progress has been made in areas such as
police and civil protection, vehicle insurance, customs, liaison
arrangements and cadastral records; reiterates that progress in the
Dialogue should be measured by its implementation on the ground;
calls on Serbia and Kosovo to refrain from negative rhetoric and to
move forward with the full implementation, in good faith and in a
timely manner, of all the agreements already reached, and to
determinedly continue the normalisation process; calls for
continuous efforts by both governments and the EU institutions to
communicate and explain the provisions of the reached agreements, in
order to bring ethnic Albanian and Serbian communities in Kosovo
closer together; commends the efforts of the business community, led
by Chambers of Commerce, to contribute to the normalisation of
relations, by engaging in dialogue between Chambers of Commerce of
Serbia and Kosovo, to tackle barriers to doing business between the
two sides, and to facilitate contact and cooperation between
companies; calls on the Commission to support maintaining and
developing these activities in the future; encourages Serbia and
Kosovo to identify new areas of discussion for the dialogue with the
aim of improving people’s lives and comprehensively normalising
relations; calls on the European External Action Service (EEAS) to
conduct an evaluation of the performance of the two sides in
fulfilling their obligations; urges Serbia to act in a spirit of
good-neighbourly relations and expresses the hope that the issue of
Kosovo’s failed application for UNESCO membership will not hamper
the dialogue, and the further integration of Kosovo in regional and
international organisations, and that cooperation and efforts will
continue for the protection of cultural heritage; urges Belgrade and
Pristina to maintain good-neighbourly relations; welcomes the
resumption of talks between Serbian Prime Minister Vučić and Kosovan
Prime Minister Mustafa on 27 January 2016; notes that the topics
discussed included mutual recognition of university and professional
diplomas and improvement of road and rail connections; underlines
that progress on the ground will be of benefit to the whole region;
28. Supports, in the context of the Berlin
Process, the creation of the Western Balkans Civil Society Forum,
which provides an opportunity for civil society representatives from
the region to exchange ideas, voice their concerns and formulate
concrete recommendations to decision-makers, and calls for the
continuation of this process at the next summit to be held in Paris
in 2016, and for the organisation of preparatory workshops for civil
society organisations in the region;
Energy, environment and transport
29. Stresses that Serbia, as a contracting party
to the Energy Community, should remain active in the work of the
Energy Community institutions and continue to implement the acquis
in order to build sustainable and secure energy systems; calls on
the authorities to start the implementation of the objectives set
out in the energy sector development strategy, as there is no
significant investment in the renewable energy sector; encourages
Serbia to develop competition in the gas market and to take measures
to improve alignment with the acquis in the fields of renewable
energies and energy efficiency, and calls on Serbia to focus more
strongly on green energy; calls on the Commission to support the
Serbian Government in its efforts to decrease the country’s
dependency on energy imports and to diversify Serbia’s gas supply;
notes that the recently adopted IPA II 2015 package notably includes
a EUR 155 million programme to help fund major regional
infrastructure projects in the energy and transport sectors in the
Western Balkans; encourages Serbia to align itself with the average
EU commitments on climate change and the agreement reached in Paris
at COP 21;
30. Calls on the Serbian Government, given the
importance of the European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation
(EGTC) for the further development of cross-border cooperation among
EU Member States and their neighbours, to provide the necessary
legal background that would allow Serbian participation in EGTCs;
31. Expresses concern at the lack of enforcement
of waste legislation, and calls on the Serbian authorities to step
up efforts to close down and clean up illegal dumpsites and to
develop a credible waste reduction policy in line with the Waste
Framework Directive;
32. Welcomes the plan to reconstruct, upgrade and
modernise parts of the railway network, and encourages the Serbian
authorities to continue to further improve public transport in
cooperation with the neighbouring countries;
*
33. Instructs its President to forward this
resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Government and
Parliament of Serbia.
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