The eighth meeting of the Working Committee for European Integration was held

The meeting was chaired by the Minister of the European Integration, Vlora Çitaku, with the participation of all General Secretaries of all ministries and several agencies. The topic of today’s meeting was the fulfilment of the criteria for the beginning of negotiations of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, respectively the progress on the fulfilment of four criteria in the area of the rule of law, public administration, minority protection and trade. In the field of the rule of law, it was discussed regarding the continuation of reforms in the judicial sector and resolution the backlog of cases in courts, as the issue of the harmonization of statistics between the Kosovo Police, Prosecutorial Council of Kosovo, Anti-Corruption Agency and Judicial Council of Kosovo. Kosovo Police and the Anti-Corruption Agency informed the participants about the number of cases in the context of the fight against corruption. Also, it was discussed regarding the amendment of the legislative package of the judiciary whereby the participants agreed for the inviolability of powers of Special Prosecutor of EULEX.

The new strategy against corruption is in the final stage of preparations where the final draft of the Strategy will be discussed with all the parties of interest and until mid-November will be approved in the Government.  The field of public administration, the approval of three secondary acts for the implementation of the legislation for civil service and salaries is in the final stage. As regards to the budget and facilities for Ombudsperson, for 2013 the budget has been allocated for the Ombudsperson, in accordance with the demands of Ombudsperson, whereas the Ministry of Public Administration is in the final stage of the preparation of the objective lists which will be available after the construction of the Palace of Justice.
In the field of minority protection, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports will notify the participant about the recent developments regarding the functioning of the joint body for the promotion and protection of cultural heritage.  This joint body is expected to be established by the end of this year.

As regards to the area of trade, the re-structuring of the Ministry of Trade and Industry is being finalized and at the same time until the end of this month MTI will prepare the analysis of the impact of trade aspects of the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

General Information:

The Working Committee for European Integration is a permanent forum which is led by the Minister of European Integration and is attended by the highest administrative leaders of state institutions. The role of the meeting of the Working Committee is to ensure the proper coordination of the European Agenda in the highest administrative level.