EU starts implementing Interim Trade Agreement

Belgrade, Feb. 03, 2010, (Source: Beta, Tanjug) - The Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) between the EU and Serbia will officially come into force on Feb. 1. This was announced in Belgrade last week by chief of the EU Delegation in Serbia Vincent Degert. He told the press in Belgrade that the economic significance of a full implementation of the Interim Agreement is that Serbia will be more attractive for foreign investors, whereas its political importance lies in the fact that monitoring the progress will be relevant when the European Commission decides to consider Serbia's candidacy for EU membership.
"The implementing of the Interim Agreement paves Serbia's way to EU accession," Degert stressed. He added that the EU Committee and the Serbian government should have the first meeting for monitoring the implementation of the agreement between March 10 and 15.
According to Degert, the application of the Interim Agreement will contribute to the predictability of business operation conditions, companies' competitiveness, and the equalizing of conditions for all market participants. On Dec. 7, the EU unfroze the application of the Interim Trade Agreement with Serbia, which envisages gradual trade liberalization in the period of six years. The trade deal is a part of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which remains suspended. Serbia has been unilaterally implementing ITA since early 2009.