27/09/2011 Monitoring
Strasbourg, 27.09.2011 – “We welcome Serbia's recent achievements and the adoption of an impressive number of laws that bring Serbia closer to European standards,” said Davit Harutyunyan (Armenia, EDG) and Indrek Saar (Estonia, SOC), monitoring co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), at the end of a visit to Serbia from 19-22 September 2011.
“The recent adoption of the laws on the election of parliamentarians and funding of political activities, full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the consolidation of the independent regulatory bodies are all important steps towards Serbia’s fulfillment of its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe,” the co-rapporteurs said.
"Despite this positive trend, a number of essential issues still remain unsolved. Serbia must ensure the setting-up of proper monitoring mechanisms to oversee the implementation of these newly adopted laws and sanction any violation. The reform of the judiciary must be pursued. The review of the cases of 800 non-elected judges and 150 prosecutors has to be completed in a transparent and fair manner. This is a pre-condition to efficiently combat corruption. We also want to stress that the media strategy under preparation and additional laws should secure freedom of the media, protect journalists and their working environment, and ensure the transparency of ownership of the media.”
“We remain concerned by the situation of the Roma community, which has, despite steps taken by the authorities, insufficient access to education, housing and social rights and faces multiple discrimination. The adoption of a law on temporary and permanent residence is becoming urgent.”
"While the authorities are expecting a positive opinion from the European Commission to obtain candidacy status and start negotiations for joining the European Union, we encourage Serbia to continue the drafting and implementation of the necessary reforms in consultation with the Council of Europe and international organisations to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” added the co-rapporteurs.
The PACE Monitoring Committee will discuss the report at its meeting on 15 December 2011 with a view to presenting it at the January 2012 part-session.