Draft action plan for Chapter 23 sent to EC

BELGRADE - The Serbian Ministry of Justice has sent the European Commission the first draft action plan for the talks on Chapter 23 of the Accession Talks, which refers to the judiciary, battler against corruption and basic rights, Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic said on Thursday.

Selakovic met with a delegation of the Council of Europe Enlargement Committee (COELA) and said he believed the action plan would be finished within two months, the Justice Minsitry said.

The initial draft of the action plan for Chapter 23 of the talks was based on the 2013-2018 National Strategy for the Judiciary Reform, anti-corruption strategy and the action plans for their implementation, Selakovic pointed out at the meeting.

The activities of the Justice Ministry are directed towards the three main pillars of Chapter 23, and they are: the establishment of an efficient and independent judiciary, battle against corruption and strengthening of the civil society's role in order to improve the level of respect for human rights, the minister noted.

The establishment of the rule of law is a fundamental priority of every modern and democratic state and Serbia has moved forward in that field by adopting a number of laws and strategies, but the next step on the path is their implementation, Italian Ambassador to Serbia Giuseppe Manzo remarked.

Chapter 23 is key for the negotiations with the EU, and Serbia faces a lot of work and many challenges on its journey to EU integration, COALA officials stated.

The European Commission needs to present suggestions and objections to the initial draft of Serbia's action plan for Chapter 23 and send it back if it should require further work.

The final version of the document...