One of the benchmarks for opening negotiations in Chapter 11 – Agriculture and rural development is the development of the Action Plan, which serves as the basis for the transposition, implementation and enforcement of the acquis in this chapter. The Action Plan defines how Serbia will align with the requirements related to the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, the benefits of which include: free movement of goods, a significant increase in spending on agriculture through direct payments to farmers, modernisation of agriculture.
From October to December, Legal Support for Negotiations project provided assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection in elaborating the improved version of the Action Plan in line with the comments of the European Commission. The Action Plan includes the development of relevant administrative capacity, evaluation of the necessary resources, as well as the development of an the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) for the preparation, management and control of agricultural payments.
With the support of experts Ružica Gelo, Žaklina Jurišić and Jožko Fornazarič, the Second Draft of the Action Plan was prepared and presented with improvements in the following areas: Common Market Organization, state aid, direct payments, Farm Accountancy Data Network – FADN , Farmers Advisory Service (FAS), rural development, quality policy, organic farming, Paying Agency, market interventions, trade policy, price reporting.
