Press Release

07/12/2007

EPP-ED Bureau: Stabilisation and Association Process and Regional Cooperation

The Stabilisation and Association process and regional cooperation were the main topics of the second day of the EPP-ED Group Bureau meeting in Sarajevo. Opening the third session of the meeting, Joseph Daul MEP, Chairman of the EPP-ED Group, underlined that the top priority of the EPP-ED Group is peace, stability and prosperity for the whole region of the Western Balkans: "I do not want to use easy language and tell you to wait and Europe will help you. Yes, Europe will help you but this must not stop you from cooperating with each other and to say that narrow nationalism and populism are misguided, will not help this region or any other", emphasised Mr Daul.

Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Dirk Lange, DG Enlargement in the European Commission responsible for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegivna, admitted that the countries of South-East Europe moving to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) have a credible strategy but they still need some fine tuning. The signing of the SAA will have a high impact on investment decisions which will contribute to the prosperity of the countries and the region", he added.

Osman Topčagić, Director of the Directorate for European Integration for Bosnia and Herzegovina, explained that the main challenge is to build institutions which can serve as a partner for Europe. He also admitted that changes and reforms take longer than expected but the introduction of laws which comply with the reforms will speed up the whole process. He asked the leadership of the EPP-ED Group to encourage his country on it's way through further and difficult reforms. "Real reforms start with accession negotiations and this is far away", he concluded.

The non-functioning of the state and the lack of cooperation with the ICTY were the two main obstacles for Serbia towards the SAA, said Tanja Mišćević, Director of the European Integration Office of Serbia. She summarised the achievements of her country underlining the clear political consensus for EU Integration. "The EU is the most respected Institution in Serbia, the promised land", she said. "But our aim is to create the promised land in Serbia and then to apply for accession." At the end of her presentation, Mrs Mišćević called for more visa liberalisation due to the fact that 70% of Serbia's young people has never been abroad, and for more EU help in order to resolve the remaining issues.

More information can be found here.

For further information:
Theo Georgitsopoulos, EPP-ED Press Service, Tel: +32-475-750566
Lada Jurica, EPP-ED Press Service, Tel: +32-476-330383

Note to editors:
The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 278 Members from all 27 Member States.