Once again, European Union fails to reach agreement to open cluster 3 with Serbia!

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EU member states have once again failed to reach agreement to open cluster 3 in membership negotiations with Serbia, RTS has learned from diplomatic sources in Brussels. Even the third meeting at the level of ambassadors on this topic did not lead to the necessary consensus.

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Hungary, which currently presides over the EU, announced that the debate on this issue will continue next week. The time for an agreement is running out, because the intergovernmental conference on the opening of the cluster, if there is one, should be held between December 16 and 20.

According to diplomatic sources, the positions of the member countries have not changed significantly in relation to the previous debate.

At the last meeting, seven countries, among them those from the Baltic area and Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Croatia, rejected the Hungarian presidency's proposal to start the procedure for opening cluster 3.

As the main reasons, these countries s pointed to Serbia not aligning with EU foreign policy and sanctions against Russia, Belgrade's "unclear geopolitical commitment, problems in the rule of law, as well as relations with Pristina."

Countries that support the opening of the cluster say that the assessment of the European Commission should be accepted, according to which Serbia has met the technical criteria.

They say that this would send a positive signal to the region and bring Serbia closer to the European Union. Some of them warned that they will not be able to accept steps for other countries, unless there is agreement on Serbia.

Non-paper and list of steps

Diplomatic sources say that Serbia submitted a so-called non-paper to the member countries before the previous debate with a list of steps it intends to take in the short term in order to encourage the decision to open the cluster.

Among the steps announced for the beginning of December are the initiation of the procedure for the election of a new council of the REM, a revision of the voter list in accordance with the ODHIR recommendations, introduction of visas for third countries in accordance with the EU visa policy, full operation of the gas interconnector with Bulgaria.

Diplomatic circles are also talking about the possible holding of a "political" intergovernmental conference, where the delegations of Serbia and the EU would exchange political messages, while the opening of the cluster would be postponed to the first quarter of next year.

Serbia took the previous step in the membership negotiations in December 2021.

Now Cluster 3, "competitiveness and inclusive growth" is on the table, that contains eight chapters, five of which were already opened before the new format (i.e., clusters) was introduced.

Chapter 10 -"information society and media", 16 - "tax policy" and 19 - "social policy and employment" from Cluster 4 are yet to be opened.

(Telegraf.rs/RTS)