Prishtina, 16 May 2016 – Speech of the Minister of European Integration, Mr. Bekim Çollaku in the first meeting of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee in the Assembly of Kosovo:
The first meeting of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC)
Honourable Co-chairman’s of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee,
Mr. Haliti and Mr. Picula;
Honourable members of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee from the Assembly of Kosovo and the European Union;
Honourable Prime Minister Mustafa;
Honourable Mr. Žbogar, representative of the European Union in Kosovo;
Ladies and gentleman,
Today we mark another step in the formalization of relations between Kosovo and the European Union because today is being functionalized one of the basic joint structures for the implementation of the Stabilisation Association Agreement.
Implementation of the SAA undoubtedly constitutes a milestone not only for our European future, but also for the consolidation of the state-building process and a new starting point in our economic, political and social development.
As such, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement constitutes the foundation of all strategic reforms that Kosovo will undertake until its full membership in EU.
Apart from the need to make our European perspective more tangible, these reforms will improve the lives of the citizens of the country through a process that will serve as a driving force to advance and stabilize our political and economic system.
In this regard, the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC) and other joint structures that will be established will serve as main mechanism that will give strategic guidance to the entire process, thus making reforms more clear, concrete and tangible until full membership in EU. This is because in these forums we will jointly decide about the most important political decisions for the European future of Kosovo.
In addition to formal approval procedures and the entry into force of the SAA, Kosovo’s institutions have prepared a National Programme for the Implementation of the SAA (NPISAA), which was approved by the Assembly in March of this year.
The program covers the five-year period 2016-2020 and focuses on three strategic aspects of EU accession: fulfilment of the SAA obligations; approximation of national legislation with EU acquis; and implementation of legislation aligned with the acquis.
The program provides a busy legislative agenda for this year, specifically approval of a constitutional amendment, connecting dozens of international agreements, as well as drafting amendments-supplements of a total of 83 laws and over 190 bylaws and other regulatory acts.
Given that the program initially foresees constitutional and legislative reforms, implementation of all these measures will require intensive engagement of the Assembly of Kosovo. In this regard, the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee will play a key role in implementing this busy legislative agenda, which will be intensified in the coming years.
Honourable members of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee;
From now on, the key word of any institutional engagement in the context of the European agenda will be the implementation.
In front of us we have an ambitious program and agenda of legislative and institutional reforms that need to be undertaken. On the other hand, we are all aware of the challenges posed by this complex process that requires a very high level of training and institutional capacity.
However, we have unwavering confidence that all required reforms will be successfully implemented, and we have good prerequisites to achieve this.
Most important prerequisites are public support for EU integration, the willingness of all stakeholders – public institutions, political stakeholders, civil society, business community and all other parties concerned – to cooperate and support this major national aim as well as with cooperation and support of the EU institutions, member states and all our other partners.
Therefore, it is quite reasonable to believe that if we fulfil these necessary prerequisites, at the right moment, Kosovo will take the next step for the application and obtain the status of candidate country for EU membership.
By feeling the burden and responsibility for coordinating the European integration process, as Minister for European Integration, I hereby invite you as co-chairmen and members of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee, to continue your irreplaceable role in the dynamics of the process through counselling and supervising implementing mechanisms, fostering consensus and accountability, enhancing the cooperation between all stakeholders, and informing the public about the entire process.
Allow me to say that in parallel with monitoring the implementation of the program, we are continuing the activities in informing citizens and stakeholders, and above all all business community regarding all the opportunities and challenges provided by SAA.
Tomorrow, along with Commissioner Hahn, we will hold a high-level conference during which will be presented and elaborated many issues related to opportunities, benefits and challenges for Kosovo economy that derive from SAA implementation.
Meanwhile, various informative activities related to implementation of the SAA are continuously being organized in coordination with civil society organizations, the EU Office and other stakeholders. These activities are being organized and will continue to be organized in central and local level in order to inform the wide public in Kosovo.
Finally, allow me to thanks the MPs of Kosovo Assembly and European Parliament who, regardless of their political belonging continue to support Kosovo’s European agenda.
Whereas, I am very confident that the respected MPs of the European Parliament will continue to demonstrate this support again in the near future, when they review the legal initiative of the European Commission regarding visa liberalization for Kosovo citizens.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you successful work at the first meeting of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee.
Last modified: August 10, 2022
