EU opens one chapter in accession negotiations with Serbia

During the intergovernmental conference in Brussels, the European Union agreed on Tuesday ,10 December 2019 , to open Chapter four on the free flow of capital in the accession negotiations with Serbia.

The EU Enlargement Commissioner, said the new chapter brought Serbia closer to the bloc.

On the understanding that Serbia has to continue to make progress in the alignment with and implementation of the acquis covered by this chapter, the EU noted that there are benchmarks that need to be met for its provisional closure.

As regards the benchmarks, the opened chapter may only be provisionally closed once it is agreed by the EU that the following benchmarks have been met:

• With respect to capital movements and payments, Serbia completes its legislative alignment with the acquis and demonstrates it will be able to fully implement it by accession, ensuring that all remaining restrictions are removed;

• On payment systems, Serbia demonstrates it will be able to fully implement Directive (EU) 2015/2366 by accession, including the relevant “level two” acts mentioned in section 2, and that it will be able to effectively apply Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 and Regulation (EU) No 260/2012;

• In the area of anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism, Serbia completes the necessary legislative alignment with the acquis, international standards (as defined by the Financial Action Task Force) and demonstrates, through a track record, an improved administrative capacity to properly implement and enforce the relevant legislation in all areas of anti-money laundering, including recommendations made by the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism of the Council of Europe, MONEYVAL, resulting in an increasing effectiveness of monitoring, supervision, financial intelligence, investigation, prosecution and conviction.