Opening of EU accession negotiation Chapter 29 by summer of 2017? – Financial means biggest challenge in customs union field

The negotiation Chapter 29, pertaining to the customs union, should be opened by the upcoming summer, stated Veselin Milosevic, assistant director of the Customs Administration and deputy president of the negotiation group, on April 24.

– The negotiation position and Chapter 29 are essentially complete. The Government adopted the position early this year. The Ministry of Finance and the Customs Administration are ready for the opening of the chapter, which, I hope, will take place even before the summer – Milosevic said for Tanjug.

He pointed out at the presentation of the negotiation position regarding Chapter 29 that the chapter was very important, as the creation of economic, financial and customs conditions for Serbia to become a full member of the EU was important for the economy, the budget and the operations of all business entities in Serbia.

– The biggest challenge in this stage of the negotiation position on Chapter 29 – Customs Union is finding financial means for the automation of export and import. Once we do this, the transit, export and import will be carried out exclusively through sharing information between the participants in the customs procedure and the Customs Administration, as is currently done in transit – Milosevic said.

The president of the negotiation group 29 – Customs Union, Vesna Hreljac Ivanovic, said that there were regulations in the field on the level of the customs union and that the regulations were directly implemented in member-states.

– This means that there's practically no possibility of negotiating about the content of those regulations, about the modalities thereof that might suit our economic and legal system, There's no negotiating about transition periods for adjusting to the systems either, which means that, essentially, within this chapter, the negotiations pertain to the dynamics of adoption of the EU acquis and the implementation of those processes – Hreljac Ivanovic said.

She explained that the customs legislature of the EU had changed considerably with the coming into effect of the new Customs Law of June 1, 2016, but that the European Commission had highlighted a high degree of harmonization of the Serbian legislature with that of the EU regardless.

– The point is that the rights and obligations of accession candidates remain the same in the new EU legislature as well. What has changed is the way customs formalities are carried out – Hreljac Ivanovic said.

She added that it was important for Serbia that changes in the implementation of the process be conducted, which is a great challenge for the administration, above all for the Customs Union, but also for the business community, and that the biggest challenge is certainly how to secure funds for the automation of customs processes.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo za evropske integracije Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Uprava Carina Beograd

Delegacija Evropske unije u Republici Srbiji Beograd

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Bruxelles

Government of Serbia

European Integration Office

Customs Administration

Chapter 29

customs union

European Commission

Ministry of Finance

Veselin Milosevic

Vesna Hreljac Ivanovic

EU Customs Law

European integration

Euro integration

negotiations of Serbia and EU