State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications Tatjana Matić headed the Serbian delegation at the Bilateral screening meeting (analytical review of the legislation of the Republic of Serbia) for the negotiation Chapter 3 – Right of Establishment and Freedom to provide Services, which was held in Brussels on March 12 and 13.

After the welcoming speech by Wenceslas de Lobkowicz from the European Commission, DG for Enlargement of the EU and Tatjana Matić, head of the negotiation chapter 3, the members of the Serbian delegation presented to the European Commission, the regulatory framework and the degree of legislative compliance in the area of services.

The negotiation Chapter 3 contains three main areas: the right of establishment and freedom to provide services, postal services and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

On the first day of the bilateral screening, the members of the Negotiation Group 3 presented to the European Commission the national legislation governing the right of establishment and freedom to provide services and sectorial regulations in services (which are the subject of the Directive): legal services, business services (office maintenance, management consulting, organization of events, advertising, recruitment), tax advice, tax services, accounting and auditing, construction services, veterinary services, engineering and architectural services, education and training, travel services (hotel, restaurant, guide services, travel agencies, rental cars and boats, etc.), trade, certification services, real estate, vocational services, entertainment and recreation (sports, gyms, amusement parks), information and communications services and energy services.

With regards to the right of establishment and freedom to provide services, the obligations of the Republic of Serbia entail a complete implementation of Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, for which the primary authority is the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications. The freedom to provide services enables commercial entities to provide services in all EU countries, regardless in which Member State their headquarters are, and the freedom of establishment in each of them, allowing them to exercise their economic activity freely in any Member State.

The Directive on services contains provisions that facilitate establishment in other Member States as well as cross-border service provision that is the provision of services in the territory of the Member States outside the state of incorporation for service providers. The Directive is a horizontal instrument that covers a wide range of services and will likely have an impact on a significant number of domestic laws and regulations that govern services now.

During the meeting, the institutional, legislative and strategic framework in the field of postal services in the Republic of Serbia was presented, as well as the progress made in the implementation of the relevant postal directive in national legislation. The universal postal service, licensing system, the level of quality of the postal service, complaints procedures, billing and cost allocation, pricing of services, and the competence of the national regulatory body for postal services were also presented.

At the meetings, the representatives of the European Commission had the opportunity to learn about the planned activities for the gradual liberalization of the postal services market, the network access of the public postal operator and the making of new regulations in this area.

After the presentations, the representatives of the European Commission, in the block provided for questions, had the opportunity to receive more detailed explanations from the Serbian delegation.

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The second day of the Bilateral screening for the negotiation Chapter 3 – Right of Establishment and Freedom to provide Services – was dedicated wholly to the system of mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development is responsible for the transposition of Directive 2005/36/EC, which regulates the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, including measures to facilitate the realization of the right of establishment and freedom to provide services.

The issue of recognition of qualifications is very complex, particularly bearing in mind that the Republic of Serbia has so far implemented the procedure of recognition of school documents (academic recognition), which is very different from the recognition of qualifications (professional recognition).

The European Union is aware that a restrictive approach to the regulation of professional qualifications has the same effect on mobility as discrimination on ethnic grounds, so it harmonized the minimum requirements in terms of duration and type of education and professional experience in occupational groups a long time ago. By means of recognition of qualifications acquired in another Member State, the mobility of professionals is facilitated, which is a key element of competitiveness, according to the European Strategy for Development until 2020, and the Single Market Act. According to the forecasts of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), until 2020, 16 million professionals will be required to perform tasks that require exceptional skills which, under the present circumstances, will lead to a serious shortage of skilled labor, which may be partially reduced by personnel who have gained their qualifications outside the EU, but whose biggest problem is the recognition of their qualifications.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development presented at the bilateral screening meeting a draft version of the law which transfers Directive 2005/36/EC into the domestic legal system and governs the recognition of qualifications for regulated professions.

The representatives of the relevant ministries presented the regulations governing the qualifications for professions in health care, such as doctors, veterinarians, dentists, nurses, midwives and pharmacists, as well as the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications of architects, lawyers, commercial agents, and persons engaged in the trade and transport of toxic products.

In her closing remarks, Tatjana Matić, head of the negotiation chapter 3 and State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications thanked the representatives of the European Commission and the members of the Serbian delegation for their active participation during screening.