Fourth meeting of the Accession Conference with Serbia

Author (Corporate)
Series Title
Series Details PRES/16/770 (13.12.16)
Publication Date 13/12/2016
Content Type

The fourth meeting of the Accession Conference with Serbia at ministerial level was held on 13 December 2016 in Brussels to open negotiations on Chapter 5 - Public procurement, and to open and provisionally close Chapter 25 - Science and research.

With this Conference, out of a total of 35 negotiation chapters, 6 chapters have now been opened for negotiations of which 1 chapter has already been provisionally closed. Further Accession Conferences will be planned, as appropriate, in order to take the process forward in the first half of 2017. The accession negotiations were launched in January 2014.

News sources reported that while there was agreement to open two further chapters in Serbia's accession negotiations, Croatia had blocked the opening of the chapter on education and culture, as it already did on other issues in the spring of 2016. This provoked angry reactions and harsh criticism from its Balkan neighbour Serbia.

Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic cut short his visit to Brussels, accusing Croatia of blocking his nation's progress towards EU membership.

Source Link http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/12/13-accession-conference-serbia/
Related Links
ESO: Background information: Third meeting of the Accession Conference with Serbia at Ministerial level http://www.europeansources.info/record/third-meeting-of-the-accession-conference-with-serbia-at-ministerial-level/
ESO: Background information: General Affairs Council, 13 December 2016 http://www.europeansources.info/record/general-affairs-council-13-december-2016/
ESO: Background information: High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini meets with Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, 12 December 2016 http://www.europeansources.info/record/high-representative-vice-president-federica-mogherini-meets-with-prime-minister-of-serbia-aleksandar-vucic/
Euro|Topics: Debates, December 2016: Croatia blocks Serbia's accession negotiations http://www.eurotopics.net/en/171225/croatia-blocks-serbia-s-accession-negotiations
BBC News, 13.12.16: Serbia accuses Croatia of blocking progress to EU membership http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38301558
EUObserver, 13.12.16: Russia courts Serbia amid EU dispute https://euobserver.com/enlargement/136255
Sputnik International, 12.12.16: Serbia Rules Out Joining NATO, Anti-Russian Sanctions https://sputniknews.com/politics/201612121048470418-serbia-russia-nato-sanctions/

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