Serbia is set to start unilateral implementation of the key Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, deputy prime minister Mladjan Dinkic said on October 15. "Implementation of the SAA will start on January 1," Belgrade News Agency Beta quoted Dinkic as saying.

The decision to start implementing the key deal came as Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen once again voiced his opposition to ratification of the agreement between Serbia and the EU, due to Belgrade's failure to arrest Bosnian Serb war-time commander Ratko Mladic, who is wanted by The Hague tribunal for crimes committed during the 1992-95 conflict.

Instead, top European officials advised Serbia to begin implementing the deal unilaterally, despite the fact that there has been no EU consensus to back Belgrade's drive for membership. Only one country, the Netherlands, opposed ratification of the interim trade agreement with Belgrade.

"The trade agreement includes a decrease of import taxes for products made in the EU. Such a move will increase competition in the Serbian market and make products made in the EU more affordable," said Dinkic, adding that the first step will be a reduction in import taxes on personal vehicles.

Serbia's pro-Europe government has made EU integration its key priority. EU officials earlier signaled that Serbia could achieve candidate status next year.

When the Serbian parliament ratified the SAA, the Radicals, who have traditionally opposed EU membership, abstained from voting, a move which may signal the emergence of greater national consensus on Serbia's European objectives.

Source: BalkanInsight.com