Serbia: Speech on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell at the EP debate

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Mr President, Honourable Members,

Let me start by reiterating our commitment to Serbia and to its European integration. Let me also recognise the important role of this Parliament in this respect. This includes the work of the Delegation for relations with Serbia, and the engagement of Members of the [European] Parliament in improving the electoral conditions in Serbia through the Parliament-facilitated Inter-Party Dialogue.

I would also like to welcome the recent opening of accession negotiations in the chapters under the Cluster Four - Green Agenda and connectivity. This sends a strong signal and one very relevant for this debate, namely that the European Union and Serbia are stepping up their engagement on the Green Agenda. We look forward to the implementation of the European Union standards in this area by Serbia as soon as possible.

Obviously, a lot of work is ahead of us, including on environmental issues but also on the rule of law and fundamental rights.

In this context, we have seen the recent reports about the working and living conditions of Vietnamese workers in a Chinese-owned factory [Linglong] in Zrenjanin, in northern Serbia.

Let me underline that the European Union expects domestic legislation and relevant international and European conventions on labour and other human rights to be fully enforced for the benefit of all workers in Serbia.

We understand that the relevant authorities of Serbia have started to investigate this case. And we will continue to monitor these developments closely.
We have also been closely following the recent protests in Serbia over the last weekends.

Freedom of assembly is a fundamental right. It needs to be exercised peacefully and in full respect of the rule of law and public order. The police has the duty to protect the exercise of this right while maintaining law and order, and the police are the only one with legitimacy to use proportionate force for that purpose if justified.

Violence against peaceful protestors is completely unacceptable.

We expect that any instances of violence are swiftly and thoroughly investigated by the competent Serbian authorities.

We take note on the recent decision by the [Serbian] government to withdraw the Law on Expropriation from the National Assembly and of the adoption of the amendments to the Law on Referendum by the National Assembly on 10 December.
More broadly, on environment, let me recall that the European Union attaches great importance to and advocates for the highest sustainability requirements for all activities related to raw materials, from exploration, through mining, processing and trading to post-closure.

In view of minimising the environmental and social footprints of raw material projects, the Commission published, in September this year, the European Union principles for sustainable raw materials.

The European Union remains also the biggest donor and investor on environmental protection and addressing climate change in Serbia. In the past 15 years, the European Union donated more than €435 million in grant funding to Serbia for environmental protection.

This demonstrates the European Union’s commitment to continue supporting Serbia on its European path.

Thank you.

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-215531 (from 27:00)