EESC-2016-05527-00-00-TCD-TRA (EN) 1/5
3rd meeting, 7 October 2016, Belgrade
JOINT DECLARATION
The EU-Serbia Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) is one of the bodies set up within the framework of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and Serbia. The JCC enables civil society organisations (CSOs) from both sides to monitor Serbia's progress towards the European Union, and to adopt recommendations for the attention of the Government of Serbia and the EU institutions. The JCC understands the notion of civil society as encompassing organisations of employers, trade unions and other economic, social and civic interests.
The JCC is made up of eighteen members, nine from each side, representing the EESC and Serbian civil society. During its current term, the JCC is co-chaired by Mr Ionuţ Sibian, member of the EESC and Executive Director of the Civil Society Development Foundation of Romania, and MrBranislav Čanak, member of the Economic and Social Council of Serbia and President of the Trade Union Confederation "Nezavisnost".
The members of the JCC discussed the current state of play and the work ahead in Serbia's accession negotiations to the EU. They debated Chapter24 - Justice, freedom and security, with a special focus on migration, Chapter 20 - Enterprise and industrial policy, with a focus on promoting entrepreneurship and the economic and social impact of industrial pollution and climate change, as well as basic principles of ILO Decent Work Agenda.
1. Current state of play in EU-Serbia relations and the accession process
1.1 JCC members are pleased that at the third meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference held on 18July 2016 Serbia opened Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, freedom and security). Serbian authorities are encouraged to work on the fulfilment of all the interim benchmarks (50 for Chapter 23 and 41 for Chapter 24) in these two crucial chapters of the accession negotiations. These include legislative amendments, robust monitoring mechanisms, institutional and coordination arrangements, initial track records as well as the administrative capacity and resources required to implement and enforce the relevant acquis in the respective chapters.
1.2 Members of the JCC once again underline the importance of chapters 23 and 24 and believe that keeping those chapters open throughout the upcoming accession negotiations can only be beneficial to Serbia, providing a strong incentive for reforms in the areas of the rule of law, in particular the judiciary, protection and promotion of fundamental rights, democratic governance and the fight against corruption and organised crime.
1.3 The JCC calls upon the EU institutions to allow the opening of further chapters of negotiations, at an adequate pace. The members of the JCC reiterate the importance of civil society involvement, including social partners, in the process of aligning of Serbian legislation with the EU aquis, as well as at each stage of the accession negotiations and in all the relevant negotiating chapters.
1.4 The JCC expresses concerns about the situation in Serbia regarding freedom of expression, association and of the media and calls upon the Serbian authorities to implement all the necessary measures to improve this situation, especially regarding the repeated attacks on journalists, civil society organisations and grassroots activists.
1.5 The JCC is pleased that this year's Pride Parade in Belgrade took place without incidents.
1.6 Once again the JCC stresses the importance of independent regulatory bodies, including the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, in ensuring oversight and accountability of the executive, and calls on the authorities to provide the independent regulatory bodies with full political, administrative and financial support for their work and to safeguard their right to independent work and follow-up of their findings and recommendations.
1.7 The JCC notices Serbia's slight improvement in Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017, moving up four places to 90th place in global rakings. It is nevertheless concerned that Serbia continues to score considerably low in the areas such as innovation and business sophistication, goods and labour market efficiency, as well as financial market development.
2. Debate on Chapter 24 (Justice, freedom and security) with a focus on migration
2.1 The JCC recognises substantial efforts and means Serbia's authorities have invested into addressing the ongoing refugee crises and into giving the necessary assistance and shelter to thousands of refugees passing through and/or staying on its territory. The JCC strongly believes that securing borders must not mean shutting out those who need protection for humanitarian reasons, in accordance with the Geneva Convention. Refugees need safe, regular routes to come to the EU, in order to avoid further deaths, human rights violations and exposure to smuggling and trafficking.
2.2 The JCC regrets the absence of a common EU approach to managing the large influx of refugees and the lack of a properly-functioning common asylum system. The JCC equally stresses that Serbia needs to adopt new legislation, both on asylum and on migrants, that will enable a sustainable asylum system and efficient procedures for registration, protection (especially of vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors and women), integration and readmission of migrants.
2.3 The JCC wholeheartedly appreciates the important role civil society is playing in the current refugee crisis. Without its response, the tragic humanitarian situation could have been even more catastrophic. Cooperation and coordination among civil society organisations (CSOs) and with the Serbian government could be further improved and professionalised to ensure its sustainability. CSOs suggestions should be taken on board by public authorities.
2.4 The JCC especially encourages Serbia to adopt and start implementing integration policies related to migrants, especially those who have been granted international protection. Serbian authorities should involve CSOs in the design of sustainable long-term integration policies, covering skills screening and recognition, education and training, including civic education and language courses, to be applied as soon as possible if a positive outcome of the asylum procedure is to be expected. Labour market participation should be fostered in cooperation with the social partners.
2.5 The JCC believes that the EU institutions should arrange for CSOs good practices in the EU and Serbia to be promoted, shared and, where possible, replicated. Cooperation forums should be set up, bringing together public authorities (State and local level) and CSOs. The EESC and the European Commission could play a role in ensuring that these cooperation forums are sufficiently operational and inclusive.
2.6 The JCC stresses that CSOs need easier access to EU funding, including for small-scale initiatives, without jeopardising the impartiality and transparency of the process. CSOs often rely on short-term EU grants, which do not allow them to plan activities with a sustainable, long-term perspective. Short-term projects also have an impact on the job security of staff, making it more difficult to attract and retain skilled personnel.
2.7 Members of the JCC are advocating for the opening of the dialogue between affected EU Member States and the Serbian authorities on the relevant issues, such as access to social and economic rights, related to returnees under readmission agreements, often belonging to the Roma minority in Serbia.
3. Debate on Chapter 20 (Enterprise and industrial policy) with a focus on promoting entrepreneurship
3.1 The JCC commends the progress in developing the SME policy framework, especially the adoption of the SME Development Strategy, in line with the SBA principles, and setting up the SME Council as a coordination mechanism for its implementation. In order to boost the effectiveness of the policy framework, the JCC calls for the strengthening of the comprehensive evaluation mechanism, to allow for an analytical assessment of the implemented policy measures and evidence-based adjustments.
3.2 In order to improve the business environment, the JCC suggests making the SME test an obligatory element of the regulatory impact assessments, to be conducted in close cooperation with the SME community.
3.3 The JCC strongly supports cooperation between the SME community, social partners, and the Serbian authorities, in particular through platforms such as the SME Forum, the SME Council and the Social and Economic Council and calls for their greater use in shaping regulation and policies.
3.4 The JCC calls for a framework to be set up facilitating electronic dealings with administrative formalities related to starting up and running businesses, taking into account best practices in implementation of the Points of Single Contact at the national level, and the EU-level discussions on their development.
3.5 The JCC recognises the issue of parafiscal charges as burdensome to SMEs and calls on the Serbian authorities to tackle this problem by providing a framework which would make these charges transparent, stable and proportionate to the purpose they serve.
3.6 The JCC recognises access to finance as one of the key challenges for SME growth and commends the efforts of the Serbian government, the European Commission and the International Financial Institutions to tackle it. The JCC sees the need to improve the Serbian regulatory framework (e.g. micro- and equity financing) and SME support system in order to promote new modes of funding and make existing ones more accessible, by tackling both demand- and supply-side challenges.
3.7 The JCC strongly supports cooperation between the institutions and organisations providing support to SMEs on the foreign markets in order to streamline and leverage up their activities. The JCC also calls on both the decision-makers and the SME community, both in Serbia and in the EU, to step up their cooperation in order to make better use of available instruments, such as those provided by COSME and Horizon 2020.
3.8 The JCC recognises the importance of the Industrial Policy built on the competitive advantages of the Serbian economy to promote economic development based on high value-added outputs, in particular those driven by technology and innovation.
3.9 In order to tackle labour market challenges, the JCC calls on the government and representatives of the business community to continue the work on adapting the education system to the principles of dual education, including trade unions active in sectors covered by dual education. Furthermore, formal education should be improved at all levels in order to foster development of entrepreneurial skills and to generate spin-offs, in particular knowledge-based ones. Finally, JCC stresses the importance of adult education and training with active involvement of relevant stakeholders: business associations, trade unions and other CSOs.
3.10 The JCC calls upon the European Commission to increase the funds intended to promote and develop SMEs, under Instrument for Pre-Accession, and encourages closer cooperation with local business support organisations to ensure greater ownership and sustainability in EU actions in this field.
3.11 The JCC calls upon the Serbian authorities to use the ongoing process of development of a new national climate change strategy as an opportunity to adapt, in a participatory manner, its economic programmes in areas such as energy, transport, industry and agricultural, in a way to foster low carbon development. We encourage Serbian authorities to adequately and transparently include, as equal partners in this process, all relevant stakeholders, particularly CSOs and local communities.
3.12 Members of the JCC encourage Serbian authorities to make sure that all relevant legislation and policies related to various industries have passed necessary due diligence tests and are adequately and rigorously assessed against threats to society, such as climate change. In line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Serbian authorities are encouraged by the JCC to work on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
3.13 The JCC instructs its co-chairs to forward this joint declaration to the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Council, the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC), the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Commission and the Government of Serbia.
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The next JCC meeting, to be held in the EU in the first half of 2017, will deal specifically with the issues of media, as well as education and culture. The next JCC meeting to be held in Serbia in the second half of 2017 will deal with environmental issues and it might include a public hearing on related subjects.
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EESC-2016-05527-00-00-TCD-TRA (EN) 1/5