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Press Release:
Ministry of Interior should publish the Draft Action Plan for Chapter 24
Civil society organizations request from the Ministry of Interior to publish the Draft Action Plan for Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom, and Security) and enable interested stakeholders to participate in its preparation.
Organizations led by the members of Working Groups for chapters 23 and 24 under the auspices of the National Convention on European Union (NCEU) and SEKO Mechanism for Justice and Home Affairs are expressing dissatisfaction due to the lack of transparency on the part of the Ministry of Interior in the process of drafting the Action plan for Chapter 24.
By acting in this manner, the Ministry of Interior is in violation of the governmental Guidelines on inclusion of civil society organizations in the process of creating regulations (available only in Serbian).
The Action Plan for Chapter 24, one of the most important chapters in Serbia’s accession process to the European Union, will serve as a benchmark document for harmonization of domestic legislation with European standards in the areas of justice, freedom, and security. The document outlines priorities for the Government in the areas of combating organized crime, drugs, human trafficking, terrorism, border management and migrations, and other topics important for the safety of citizens. The progress of Serbia in the European integration process is depending on the success of its implementation. Therefore, it is unacceptable for the Ministry of Interior, the institution in charge of drafting the Action Plan, to exclude civil society organizations, professional associations, media, citizens, and other interested parties from the process.
We request from the Ministry of Interior to make the Draft Action Plan for Chapter 24 available to the public and allow for the consultation process with the interested parties to take place in the earliest stage of its preparation.
Postponing the inclusion of CSOs in the process of drafting this document goes against the principle of active participation of civil society in all phases of the legislation process. This is one of the fundamental principles of the European management of public affairs which envisages the inclusion of CSOs from the beginning of the legislation drafting process, including the selection of regulatory instruments, creating regulations and their evaluation through monitoring.
We appeal to the Ministry of Interior to make the supporting documents of the Action Plan for Chapter 24 accessible to the public.
Ministry of Interior and all other ministries should act in accordance with an example set by the Ministry of Justice which made all documents relevant to the Action Plan for Chapter 23 accessible on its webpage: translation of the Screening Report for Chapter 23, first and second draft of the Action Plan for Chapter 23, Report on Inclusion of CSOs and the methodology of cost evaluation. We believe that these documents must be made available to the citizens of Serbia in order to achieve greater transparency of the negotiation process and understanding the process of accession to the EU.
The Government must assure that all ministries consistently allow participation of civil society in the process of negotiation with the EU, as well as careful examination of all comments submitted by the CSOs with the purpose of contributing to the progress of Serbia in the accession process.
By involving CSOs in the processes of preparation, creation, and implementation of regulations, their precision and intelligibility is improved, as well as their positive effects, while at the same time facilitating and lowering costs of their implementation.
Signatories:
1. Belgrade Centre for Security Policy – BCSP, a member of the coalition prEUgovor, coordinator of the Working Group for Chapter 24 in the National Convention on the European Union, the leading organization of SEKO on Justice and Home Affairs
2. The Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights – YUCOM, a member of the House of Human Rights and Democracy, the coordinator of the Working Group for Chapter 23 in the National Convention on the European Union.
3. The European Movement in Serbia – EMinS
4. Civic Initiatives – CI
5. Transparency Serbia, a member of the coalition prEUgovor
7. Center for Investigative Reporting in Serbia – CINS, a member of the coalition prEUgovor
8. Link Plus
9. Belgrade Center for Human Rights – BCHR
10. The Committee for Human Rights – Niš, CHRIN
11. The Committee for Human Rights – Leskovac, CHRLE
12. Partners for Democratic Change – Serbia
13. Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies – CEAS
14. Policy Center – PC
15. Praxis
16. Group 484, a member of the coalition prEUgovor
17. ASTRA– Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, a member of the coalition prEUgovor
18. Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence – BFPE
19. Center for Applied European Studies, a member of the coalition prEUgovor
20. SHAREFoundation
21. Asylum Protection Center – APC
22. Center for Civil Society Development – PROTECTA
23. Bibija– Roma Women’s Center
24. Association People's Parliament Leskovac
25. Victimology Society of Serbia
26. Novi Sad School of Journalism
27. Becej Youth Association – BUM
28. Toplica Center for Democracy and Human Rights
30. Association Info Center Brus
31. European Vojvodina
32. Farmers' Association for Rural Development of Deliblatska Pescara
33. Local Agenda 21 for Kostolac municipality
34. Sandzak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms
35. Association Sveti Spas
36. Citizen’s association Together together
37. Association Dialogue, Valjevo
38. Association against Corruption, Zrenjanin
39. Autonomous Women’s Center – AWC,a member of the coalition prEUgovor
40. Bureau for Social Research BIRODI
41. Center for Development of Non-profit Sector – CRNPS
42. Belgrade Open School, initiative Progovori o pregovorima
43. Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability – CRTA
44. Peščanik
45. Foundation Center for Democracy
46. Alliance for Protection of Nature, Animal and Human Rights EPAR-OIPA Serbia
47. Center for Development of Civil Resources, Niš – CRCR
48. Association of Refugees from the Republic of Croatia
49. European Policy Centre – EPC
50. Citizen’s association “Sisyphean Work”
51. Institute for Territorial Economic Development – InTER
52. Center for Education of Adults “Educa Humana”
Tags: ..., action, center, chapter, civil, draft, enable, freedom, interested, interior, justice, ministry, organizations, participate, preparation, process, publish, request, security, society, stakeholders
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