Brussels will evaluate the electoral campaign and the state of emergency – Politika

According to our information, the European Commission reports on the progress of countries aspiring to EU membership will be published on October 6, although the agenda has not been officially confirmed, diplomats from the EU headquarters told Danas. , commenting on the findings published by the European portal of the Western Balkans.

When asked about the content of the EC document that will refer to the situation in Serbia in key domains, our sources affirm: “We hope that the Report gives a realistic picture of the situation, emphasizing all the challenges facing your country.”

Danas interlocutors from Brussels also say they will “read and analyze the EC reporting package very carefully.”

In its text, the EWB recalls that the previous report on the progress of Serbia was published in May 2019 and that “this year the reports were moved from spring to autumn due to the kovid 19 pandemic”.

Nemanja Todorović Štiplija, editor-in-chief of the EWB portal, points out for our document that the European Commission “always consults other official reports” from organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the OSCE, but also reports from foreign non-governmental organizations . such as Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House, and evaluations from representatives of the non-governmental sector and state agencies in Serbia.

– The EC report, which should be published soon, will include the period of the electoral campaign in our country, but also the state of emergency introduced due to the pandemic, so I hope that this document contains official evaluations from Brussels on all the “hot” topics, like the rule of law. the state of democracy, the work of parliament, the functioning of independent regulatory bodies, freedom of the media … No doubt, significant attention will be paid to the inter-party dialogue between the government and the opposition on the improvement of electoral conditions, mediated by the European Parliament. Those talks were accompanied by controversy and I hope that shortcomings are mentioned, such as the fact that the EP’s recommendations were only partially implemented. To illustrate, I think the EC will critically address the fact that the Electronic Media Regulatory Body (EMR) has not been completely reformed. In other words, although REM has been “updated”, it has been noted for lack of logic in its powers over broadcasters with national “coverage”, Štiplija explains.

Our interlocutor also hopes that the European Commission will give “interesting assessments” on the state of the economy in Serbia, as well as on the “questionable role of the Supervisory Council of the National Assembly”, established on the basis of the Law on the Election of Deputies . As he emphasizes, the work of this body “went almost completely unnoticed, which makes its basic function meaningless.”

Additional stagnation of administrative capacity

Stiplija notes that since 2015, there has been a notable trend in EC reports on Serbia, indicating a “decrease in administrative capacity” of the current Ministry of European Integration, ie the former Office for European Integration. He emphasizes that in this year’s document, “it will certainly be appreciated that there was a further stagnation of administrative capacities, taking into account the resignation of the head of the Serbian team for the negotiations on EU accession, Tanja Miscevic, and some other people. “.

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