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 Mr Branislav member of the Economic and Social Council of Serbia and President of the Čanak, 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 Chapter 24 - 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. Current of play in EU-Serbia relations and the accession process JCC members are pleased that at the third meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference held on 18 July 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. 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
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 Mr Branislav 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 Chapter 24 - 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. Current of play in EU-Serbia relations and the accession process JCC members are pleased that at the third meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference held on 18 July 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. 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
eesc-2016-05527-00-00-tcd-tra-en.docx