Brussels, 19/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - During the evening of Monday 18 July, the European Union and Serbia opened two new chapters of negotiations as part of Serbia's EU accession process - Chapter 23 on the judicial apparatus and fundamental rights, and Chapter 24 on freedom, security and justice.
“This is very good news for Serbia. We are opening two important and demanding chapters in the accession process. These chapters are tied to basic values and principles of the EU - democracy, the rule of law, an independent judiciary - areas crucial for the introduction of European standards and strengthening rights of the citizens”, Slovakia's minister for foreign affairs, Mirslav Lajcak stated, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.
“This is a great day for Serbia”, the country's prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, stated. “We are committed to setting up a reform process”, he said at a press conference. European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said Serbia had prepared a “robust and ambitious” reform plan.
With these two chapters, the EU and Serbia have opened four negotiation chapters out of 35. Under the EU's new approach, the two chapters which have just been opened are at the start of the enlargement process and will only be closed at the end. Hahn said that four other chapters could still be opened this year. This would be chapters on public procurement (5), enterprise and industry policy (20), science and research (25) and education and culture (26). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)