European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Stabilisation and Association Agreement) (Republic of Serbia) Order 2011

My Lords, I thank both noble Baronesses for their contributions. We all recognise that this is a process whereby Serbia has a number of targets to meet on the way to what we hope will be a full membership. Noble Lords will be aware that Croatia is a long way ahead and that we may well indeed be dealing with a Croatian accession treaty within the next 12 months or so. We very much want the other states of the western Balkans to follow Croatia down that line. As I said in opening, there is no question but that our security depends upon the effective integration of the western Balkans into the European Union. I was asked a number of specific questions. The European Union is of course providing financial support through a number of programmes. The United Kingdom contributes primarily through those but there are also bilateral channels. When I was at the London School of Economics I taught one or two people from Serbia who were on Chevening scholarships, for example, so there is a range of other channels through which assistance is given. On political dialogue and monitoring, the European Commission is responsible for monitoring although embassies in Belgrade also participate. They report back to the European Council and the Council of Ministers on how they see things happening on the ground. The last time I was in Belgrade, I was very impressed by the quality of the British embassy and the active way that it engages with Serbians inside and outside the Government there. I also visited a Serbian NGO that had direct links with British NGOs, which seems highly desirable. Wider contacts across civil society, including universities as well as NGOs, are part of how we reintegrate Serbia into European democratic society. Progress on the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia is slow, as we all know. We do not know whether the two charged Serbs are still in Serbia or Republika Srpska or whether, as with the Croatian war criminal who was arrested in Minorca or Majorca, they are now way outside the country. We are contributing to training Serbian security forces and the best information that we have, from all those concerned, is that Serbia is continuing to co-operate to the best of its ability with those inquiries. There will of course be full information for Parliament when there is progress. I dare say that if any of them is arrested, the News of the World will have got hold of that even more quickly than us and published it. The security and co-operation agreement will help to tackle homophobia. The whole process is concerned with raising the level of awareness of broader civil liberties issues. That is very much part of the ongoing dialogue between the Commission, the European Parliament, national Governments and the local authorities. Ratifying this agreement does not imply that we have in any way solved all these issues. Having answered all those questions, I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, that the Foreign Secretary and the European Minister will continue to write to the respective scrutiny committees after each report from the ICTY and from Mr Brammertz. I conclude by recommending the SAA and by hoping that Serbia now takes advantage of it and moves forward. I am sure that the SAA does not have a time limit of six years but will operate for six years in the first instance. Many of us would be very happy if Serbia has become an accepted candidate for the European Union before the end of that six-year period, but that depends on Serbia meeting the conditions to which this SAA introduces it. Motion agreed.