Davenport: EC recommends Chapter 32 open accession talks

BELGRADE - Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said on Thursday the European Commission (EC) had recommended that the accession talks with Serbia start with Chapter 32, which refers to financial control, but stressed that the final decisions was up to the member countries.

The final decision is up to the member countries when it comes to the sequence the chapters are opened, he told Tanjug.

Presenting the EC report on Serbia's progress in EU integration to the Serbian parliament committees on EU integration and foreign affairs, Davenport underscored that the EU was focused on the areas covered by chapters 23 and 24, which refer to the rule of law and freedom, so they would be operned at the very start as well.

The key focus of the EC in the next 6 months and later on will be on the areas covered in chapters 23 and 24, so they would be opened at the very start as well, Davenport noted.

He confirmed that the outgoing EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele advocated that Chapter 31, which is related to foreign policy and security, should be opened earlier in the talks, and that foreign policy should get more attention during the negotiations.

Photo Tanjug Video, camera operator Zoran Milenkovic