State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications Tatjana Matić and Deputy Head of Unit for Serbia, DG Enlargement of EU Simona Gatti opened a two-day explanatory screening meeting for chapter 3: Right of Establishment and Freedom to provide Services. Head of the negotiating team with the EU Tanja Miščević and Head of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the EU in Brussels Duško Lopandić will attend the explanatory screening as members of the Serbian delegation.
Tatjana Matić, who is heading the working group on chapter 3, said that it is a chapter which is very important for Serbia and for the EU. “We talked about mutual recognition of technical qualifications for professions such as doctors, dentists, architects, pharmacists, etc.”, said Matić.
She pointed out that the upcoming adoption of the directive on services is very important for the ministry, because it adapts the internal market in Serbia to the rules applicable in the EU. “It is something that we definitely need to develop and put together by the end of this year”, noted Matić.
Experts from the European Commission presented the EU acquis on the right of establishment and freedom to provide services to the members of the Serbian delegation.
Directive 2005/36/EC was explained as a key piece of legislation governing the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and harmonizing the rules relating to regulated professions, with a view to ensure the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and diplomas between Member States.
Each member state has to have institutions that will certify the professional qualifications of their citizens and address the requirements for the recognition of professional qualifications of persons who are not its citizens.
The body that ensures compliance with these obligations may comprise of one or more ministries and professional organizations.
Directives governing the mutual recognition of professional qualifications for professions in health care, such as doctors, veterinarians, dentists, nurses, midwives and pharmacists, as well as the 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 were clearly defined.
The directive on postal services, which establishes a regulatory framework for the postal services sector was presented; it defines the common minimum characteristics of the universal postal service (UPS) guaranteed throughout the EU and establishes the maximum limits for services that may be reserved for the UPS.
Each State shall establish a national regulatory body that is responsible for ensuring compliance with the obligations arising from the directive on postal services and that could be responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules of competition in the postal sector.
National regulatory bodies must be legally separate and have independent business from postal operators.
The Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications has organized a web-stream of the meeting, in the premises of the Ministry in Belgrade, Nemanjina 22-26, at the Big Hall on the sixth floor.
The upcoming round of acquis screening is scheduled for next week and it will deal with chapter 12, relating to food safety and phytosanitary inspection.
