EC Confirms Fulfillment of Requirements for Opening of Chapter 1 Pertaining to Free Movement of Goods

After eight years of negotiations with representatives of the European Commission and the EU Delegation to Serbia, the EC has notified the Ministry of Economy that the requirements for the opening of Chapter 1 - Free Movement of Goods have been met.

The essence of the chapter pertaining to the free movement of goods consists of technical regulations which regulate the infrastructure of quality (including standardization, accreditation, metrology, assessment of harmonization and market supervision).

On the other hand, within the new chapter, there is also the non-harmonized field, which represents the national regulations of the member states.

According to the website of the Ministry of Economy, with the completion of the negotiations in this field, a full harmonization of the local regulations with the EU legislation which pertains to products will be secured.

With the achieving of a full harmonization of the local regulations with those of the EU, compliance with one of the basic freedoms of a single market – the free movement of goods – will be secured.

This principle means that the trade of products from one part of the European Union in any other part must be carried out without limitations.

Accordingly, Serbian products will move through the EU market without obstacles.

On the day of the accession to the EU, Serbia becomes part of the internal EU market, where equal rules apply to all products of the member states. The free movement of goods will enable the placement of quality Serbian products in the EU market, and at the same time, the placement of quality EU products in the Serbian market.

– Chapter 1 – Free Movement of Goods is the most important and, in terms of legislation, the most demanding chapter. Serbia’s biggest goods exchange is with the EU states and that is why the green light for the opening of this chapter is a historic moment for our people and our state – said minister Rade Basta.

The Ministry of Economy runs the operations of the Negotiation Group for the Free Movement of Goods and will start the procedure toward the adoption of the strategic documents by the Government of Serbia which are the criteria for the opening of the chapter: Strategies and the Action Plan for the Harmonized Field, the Action Plan for Motor Vehicles and the Action Plan for the Non-Harmonized Field, according to the website of the Ministry of Economy.

Following the adoption of the strategic documents, the EC will prepare the Draft Report on the fulfillment of the requirements for the opening of the chapter, which it will present to the Council of the European Union, which will be a formal confirmation by the EU that the requirements for the opening of the negotiations in this field have been met.

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

European Commission

Ministry of Economy

Rade Basta

opening of Chapter 1

free movement of goods inside EU

harmonization of local regulations with EU standards