The Republic of Serbia
Government
OFFICE FOR COOPERATION
WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
2014, December
Report on the participation of CSOs in the negotiation process for the accession of the
Republic of Serbia to the European Union
On June 28th 2013, at the summit of the European Council, it was decided to open
negotiations on Serbia's membership in the European Union. Subsequently, on January 21st
2014 the first intergovernmental conference between Serbia and the EU was held in Brussels,
and it represented the start of accession negotiations at the political level.
The European Commission and Serbia on September 25th 2013 started the process of
screening chapter by chapte.
The negotiations on accession to the European Union as a key process for the future of
society in general, should include all relevant stakeholders in social and political terms. The
active role of civil society in the process of negotiations is of great importance in order to
provide relevant information, advice and include all stakeholders and public, through which
the transparency of the entire process, and thus the broad public support and legitimacy to the
whole process of accession to the European Union is ensured.
Progress Report for 2014 stresses as political criteria that an empowered civil society is a
crucial component of any democratic system and it should be recognised and treated as such
by the state institutions. It also stresses further efforts are needed to ensure closer and
consistent involvement of parliament and civil society in the accession process.
Although civil society organizations are not members of the negotiating groups, Decision on
the Establishment of the Negotiating Team for negotiations on the accession of the Republic
of Serbia to the European Union gives the possibility to professional organizations and
experts in certain areas to be involved in the work of individual negotiating groups in order to
resolve certain complex issues related to the Negotiation Team tasks.
During 2013 and 2014, Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Government of the
Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with the Negotiating team for the accession of the
Republic of Serbia to the European Union and relevant institutions for different negotiation
chapters included CSOs in negotiations on the accession of the Republic of Serbia to the
European Union. CSO participation in this process so far included monitoring of explanatory
screenings, participation in the preparation of the bilateral screening for some negotiating
chapters, participation in briefing meetings that followed bilateral screenings and
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participation in drafting Action plan for Negotiating Chapter 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental
Rights.
1. Web streaming of explanatory screening
Web streamings of explanatory screening were organized for Chapter 1 (Free movement of
goods) 2 (Freedom of movement for workers), 3 (Ri ght of establishment and freedom to
provide services), 4 (Free movement of capital), 5 (Public procurement), 6 (Company law), 7
(Intellectual property law), 8 (Competition policy), 10 (Information Society and Media), 11
(Agriculture and Rural Development), 12 (Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy),
13 (Fisheries), 14 (Transport policy), 15 (Energy), 16 (Taxation), 17 (Economic and
monetary policy), 18 (Statistics), 19 (Social policy and employment), 20 (Enterprise and
industrial policy), 21 (Trans-European networks), 22 (Regional policy and coordination of
structural instruments), 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights), 24 (Justice, Freedom and
security), 25 (Science and research), 26 (Education and Culture), 27 (Environment), 28
(Consumer and health protection), 29 (Customs Union), 30 (External relations), 31 (Foreign,
security and defence policy), 32 (Financial Control).
All calls for monitoring the web streaming of explanatory screening were public and were
posted on the Office official website.
More than 500 representatives of relevant CSOs attended web streaming of explanatory
screening for all these chapters.
2. Preparation of bilateral screening
In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, Office for Cooperation
with Civil Society has invited CSOs related to the areas of the Chapter 23 - Judiciary and
Fundamental rights to participate in the preparation of the bilateral screening for this chapter.
Organisations were expected to submit reports on compliance with the EU acquis and to
provide answers to specific questions of the European Commission. Reports were submitted
by 14 organizations: Autonomous Women's Centre, NGO Athens, Humanitarian Law Center,
Human Rights House consisting of the following organizations - Belgrade Centre for Human
Rights, Civic Initiatives, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, the Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights, the Policy Center and prEUgovor coalition consisting of the
following organizations - ASTRA, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, the Center for
Investigative Reporting in Serbia, Center for Applied European Studies, Group 484 and
Transparency Serbia.
3. Organisation of briefing meetings
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society has organized, in cooperation with Negotiation
team for the accession of Republic of Serbia to the EU, the Serbian Office for European
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Integration and the relevant institutions for negotiation chapters, 16 briefing meetings with
CSOs with the aim of informing representatives of CSOs with the main issues and details of
the bilateral screening for 21 chapters. These meetings were chaired by Tanja Miscevic, chief
negotiator for the accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union, in the presence
of heads of the negotiating groups and other representatives of the competent institutions for
the relevant negotiations chapters, as well as representatives of Serbian Office for European
Integration and the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society.
These meetings were attended by numerous CSOs representatives:
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Negotiating Chapters 2 and 3 - 21 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 5 - 17 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 10 - 31 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 11 - 30 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapters 12 and 13 - 23 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 15 - 29 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 18 – 1 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapters 19 - 35 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 20 - 12 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapters 23 and 24 - 27 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 25 - 18 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 26 - 20 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 27 - 43 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 29 - 7 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapters 30 and 31 - 24 CSOs representative;
Negotiating Chapter 32 - 20 CSOs representative.
Participants rated these meetings as very successful and also as good practice example of how
to inform CSOs representatives about main conclusions from bilateral screening meetings
that were held in Brussels.
4. Participation in drafting of the Action Plan for the Chapter 23 - Judiciary and
Fundamental Rights
The Ministry of Justice has expressed willingness for further participation of civil society
organizations in the next phase of negotiations - drafting an action plan for implementation of
the recommendations from the Screening Report, taking into consideration that civil society
organizations has participated for years and has followed continuously the processes of
reform and European Integration of the Republic of Serbia and their contribution can be
significant to the process of EU harmonization therefore for society in general.
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In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society has
invited civil society organizations to participate in the preparation of the Action Plan for
Chapter 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights. 5 organizations submitted their reports.
In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the Office for Cooperation with civil society also
invited civil society organizations to participate in commenting on the draft Action Plan for
Chapter 23. 7 organizations submitted comments on the draft of the action plan.
The Ministry of Justice has published after that the second draft of the Action Plan for
Chapter 23, as well as the Report on the involvement of civil society in the negotiations for
Chapter 23 and the Report of the received proposals and comments of CSOs in the process of
drafting the Action Plan for Chapter 23.
5. Organization of trainings for CSOs on the negotiation process
Office for Cooperation with Civil Society started organising in 2013 trainings for CSOs titled
as "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the European Union", with
the aim to strengthen CSOs capacity to potentially participate, and monitor the future process
of Serbia's accession to the EU. These trainings were supported by IPA Support to Civil
Society 2011-2013 programme within the three years long project “Support to the Office for
Cooperation with Civil Society”.
Through this training acquis and relevant national legislation were presented, as well as the
experience of experts from different negotiating groups and CSOs from the EU and region.
The trainings were attended by representatives of the relevant line ministries and the Serbian
Office for European Integration as well. Very important debate about the role of CSOs in the
process of Serbia's accession to the EU has been launched by these trainings.
Following trainings were held:
• February 5, 2013 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union", representatives of the Serbian Office for European Integration presented
the whole process of negotiations and chapters in the negotiations on the accession to the
European Union. Also, experiences of civil society organisations from neighbouring
countries were presented by Željana Buntić-Pejaković, executive director of the organisation
Cenzura Plus from Croatia and Ana Novaković, director of the Centre for development of
non-governmental organisations from Montenegro. 100 representatives of CSOs participated
at this training.
• May 27, 2013 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union: Negotiating Chapters 11 and 20", representatives of the Serbian Office
for European Integration presented the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union and Andrea Vugrinović, director of the company Superna from Croatia
presented the experiences of Croatian civil society in monitoring the negotiations process in
the field of competitiveness. 20 representatives of CSOs participated at this training.
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• July 5, 2013 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union - Negotiating Chapters 23, 24," representatives of the Serbian Office for
European Integration and the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration presented the
process of accession to the EU and Sandra Benčić and Gordan Bosanac from Centre for
peace studies from Croatia presented the experiences of Croatian civil society in monitoring
the negotiations process in the field of rule of law. More than 160 representatives of CSOs
participated at this training.
• September 6, 2013 - "CSOs Capacity Building on monitoring the implementation of
policies in the field of environmental protection (Chapter 27)", Mr. Marko Slokar, chief
negotiator of the Republic of Slovenia for the Chapter 27 presented the experience of the
Republic of Slovenia in the process of negotiations for this chapter. More than 100
representatives of CSOs participated at this training.
• November 19, 2013 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union - the Negotiation Chapter 19," Mr. Luke Benko, an expert in the field of
labor law of the European Union presented the experience of the Republic of Croatia in the
process of negotiations for this chapter and how CSOs in Croatia monitored the process of
EU accession in the field of social policy and employment. More than 50 representatives of
CSOs participated at this training.
• February 5, 2014 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union and the role of CSOs - the Negotiation Chapter 10 (Information
Society and Media)", experience of the Republic of Croatia in the process of negotiations for
this chapter was presented by Mr. Jadran Antolović, former chief negotiator for the chapter
10 relating the media and Mr. Krešo Antonovich, a former chief negotiator for the chapter 10
relating the telecommunications. 80 representatives of CSOs participated at this training.
• March 5, 2014 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union and the role of CSOs - the Negotiation chapter 25 (Science and
Research) and 26 (Education and Culture)," Mr. Pero Lucin, Rector of the University of
Rijeka, and former member of the Negotiating team of Republic of Croatia for Chapters 25
and 26 presented the experience of Croatia in the accession process, the legislation of the
European Union in the framework of the negotiation chapters 25 and 26 and the role of CSOs
in monitoring policies in the field of science, research and education and culture. More than
130 representatives of CSOs participated at this training.
• June 2, 2014 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on the accession to the
European Union and the role of CSOs - the Negotiation Chapter 11 (Agriculture and
Rural Development)", Ms. Ruzica Gelo, a former member of the Croatia Negotiating team
in charge for the chapters 11, 12, 13 and 28 presented the most important lessons learned and
the experience of the Republic of Croatia in the process of negotiations regarding Chapter 11.
• December 12, 2014 - "Introduction to the process of negotiations on accession to the
European Union: negotiating chapter 22 - Regional policy and coordination of
structural instruments", Ms. Marina Šutalo, coordinator for Chapter 22 during the
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negotiations for the accession of the Republic Croatian to the EU presented the most
important lessons learned and the Croatian experience in the process of negotiations related
to Chapter 22. More than 25 representatives of CSOs participated at this event.
On the April 4th 2014 Office has also organized, in cooperation with the Civic Initiatives,
European Movement in Serbia and TACSO office in Serbia, info session on the establishment
of the Joint Consultative Committee (EU-Serbia Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee JCC). This event was organized with the aim to inform representatives of civil society, trade
unions and employers about the role, functions and responsibilities of the Joint Consultative
Committee. Ionut Sibian, executive director of the Foundation for Civil Society Development
(Romania), Chairman for the Western Balkans and the rapporteur of the European Economic
and Social Committee on Relations Serbia-EU informed the participants with details
regarding the role, functioning and responsibilities of the Joint Consultative Committee. CoChair of the Joint Consultative Committee EU-Croatia, Lidija Pavic Rogošić presented
Croatian experience in establishing and functioning of this committee, which can be of great
assistance to Serbia, which is on the beginning of this process.
6. Recommendations of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society regarding the
further involvement of CSOs in the negotiation process on the accession of the
Republic of Serbia to the European Union
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To continue with the established practice of public calls for CSOs for monitoring web
streaming of explanatory screening;
It is necessary to include CSOs in preparation of bilateral screenings based on good
experiences related to Chapter 23;
To continue with the established practice of organising briefing meetings after the
bilateral screening;
To ensure transparency in the work of relevant institutions for appropriate negotiation
chapters in order to provide information to the wider interested public - to ensure that
presentations from bilateral screenings, questions of the European Commission and
the bilateral screening and briefings meetings reports are published on the official
website of the relevant institutions;
It is necessary to include CSOs in preparation of action plans for different chapters;
To continue with the practice of trainings for CSOs on the negotiation process;
Establish and harmonize future models of CSOs participation in the preparation of
negotiating positions.
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