Draft negotiation position for Chapter 27 on environment by the end of June

The opening of Chapter 27 entails analysis, evaluation and resolution of the most important issues in nearly all areas of social life concerning the environment, Minister of Environmental Protection Goran Trivan said at the meeting of the Negotiation Group 27, held on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, at the National Assembly of Serbia.

– In this process, which will not be easy, our primary task at the moment is to determine the situation in all segments of the society concerning the environment and to identify the problems, while on the other hand determining how much it will cost to solve them. The surveying of the situation needs to be performed on all levels, as each subject in Serbia will need to implement environmental protection measures, whether a factory, a company, an institution... – the minister said in his introduction.

Trivan reminded that, because it involves nearly all social segments, Chapter 27 was the most complicated, expensive and important chapter in the process of accession to the European Union.

– The support we nominally had in founding the Ministry is no longer sufficient. We need understanding in our efforts and in our future challenges from everybody – from state institutions to the civil society, the media, the public on the whole – the minister pointed out.

Ecology is a field which integrates Serbia and can change the negative phenomena in all areas of the society. However, as the minister announced, Serbia will not rush to open Chapter 27, as it has learned from the experience of the countries which have become members of the EU and were forced to pay high penalties as a consequence of quick solutions.

– The draft negotiation position will be prepared by the end of this June, and the harmonization of the document with the positions of the European Commission will take place in the months to follow – Trivan announced.

The head of the negotiation team of Serbia, Tanja Miscevic, emphasized the importance of Chapter 27 to the process of Serbia's accession to the EU and expressed support to the Ministry of Environmental Protection as the crucial institution in its opening. The legal field in Serbia being harmonized with the regulations of the EU in the environmental protection area is as wide as possible, the funds meant for meeting the requirements defined by Chapter 27 are enormous, and the importance of the field is reflected in the fact that no chapter better shows the importance of European integration to citizens than environmental protection, Miscevic said.

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

Chapter 27

negotiations of Serbia about accession to EU

negotiation team of Serbia for EU

Tanja Miscevic

ecology

waste

waste waters

environmental chapter in EU negotiations