The Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, with Prime Minister Kurti’s adviser, Jeton Zulfaj, held a press conference after the CEFTA Joint Committee meetings, where the decision to remove UNMIK as Kosovo’s representative was approved.
The full speech of Minister Rozeta Hajdari:
Dear journalists,
Dear citizens of the Republic of Kosovo,
We inform you that today, 2 hours ago, we had the special meeting of the Joint Committee of CEFTA, chaired by Serbia, as the leader of CEFTA for this year.
In this meeting, as a point of first order, was the approval of Decision No. 8/2007, on the rules of the CEFTA operation procedure. Through this approved decision, we inform you that finally the participation of UNMIK has left CEFTA and this comes as a result of many efforts, consistency and dedication of Kosovo, to adjust its position in this CEFTA mechanism. And from today, in the meetings of the CEFTA Joint Committees, Kosovo will be represented by its institutions, without the presence of UNMIK.
After 13 years of implementation of CEFTA, Kosovo for the first time officially took an initiative to regulate the representation of Kosovo in this mechanism. In this regard, from the Government of the Republic, through the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, on September 24, 2021, we addressed the letter to the CEFTA secretariat in Brussels, where through this letter the removal of UNMIK from this mechanism was requested and that Kosovo should be represented equally like other countries.
The first letter sent by the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade comes as a result of the non-equal treatment of Kosovo in CEFTA, where the main barrier in this mechanism has been the representation of Kosovo through UNMIK. This is due to the fact that until now, UNMIK's participation has been present in every electronic communication within CEFTA, even for the most technical issues possible. Also, the main challenge in this aspect has been the continuous participation of UNMIK in the meetings of the Joint Decision-Making Committees in CEFTA, where in these meetings, until now, Kosovo has been represented by the Contact Point of Kosovo together with UNMIK- i. In addition to the UNMIK barrier, Kosovar companies have also been challenged with unreasonable non-tariff barriers within CEFTA.
While the rest of the 13 decisions approved today, and not earlier since the sending of Kosovo's letter, comes as a result of Kosovo's consistency and commitment to not approve other decisions, without the approval of Kosovo's request to leave UNMIK. And we have achieved this today.
However, apart from the approval of Kosovo's request, the other 13 decisions approved today are not insignificant, because they include equal economic and commercial access in the following areas:
• Additional Protocol 7 for the Settlement of Disputes within the framework of CEFTA – a mechanism that aims to determine the procedure for the resolution of disputes and unjustified barriers, or the violation of the CEFTA agreement by any party.
• Decision on the Facilitation of Electronic Trade – which aims to promote the exchange of trade electronically, and in this field, Kosovo also has its competitive and profitable capabilities. This will also be related to the Law on Information Society Services in Kosovo and directive 2000/31/EC (European Commission).
• Decision on commercial aspects of intellectual property rights – this will regulate intellectual property rights issues, including trademarks, patents, industrial designs, geographical indications and strengthening copyright protection.
• Decision on the Prevention of Unjustified Geoblocking – which aims to protect consumers during the practice of accessing content, goods or services, based on the user's geographic location, without valid reasons.
• The decision on the disciplines that establish a general system for the recognition of professional qualifications – this decision is related to the agreements for the automatic recognition of professional qualifications, which are signed at the level of Prime Ministers and ratified in the Assembly. This decision describes the procedures for the recognition of qualifications, in cases where the conditions for automatic recognition are not met.
• Decision on facilitating the trade of services provided by travel agencies and tour operators – aimed at the mutual recognition of the licenses of tour operators and the provision of their services.
• Decision on the Creation of the Electronic System for the Facilitation of Risk Management for the Trade of Goods – which concerns the facilitation and identification of risk during the exchange of goods at border points/Customs.
• Decision on the Recognition of the Programs of Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) – this means that Kosovo can also send the list of Authorized Economic Operators from the Customs of Kosovo, for validation in CEFTA.
• The decision on the establishment of CEFTA bodies – aims to create a unit of cooperation within the CEFTA countries in the field of parcel deliveries, such as postal services.
• Decision on Inter-Party Parcel Delivery Services – related to the point just mentioned and aimed at improving postal delivery services between CEFTA countries.
• Decision on changing the functioning of the Secretariat – which foresees changes in the structure of the secretariat.
• Recommendation for the Facilitation of Liability Insurance between Third Parties, within the framework of CEFTA – which may enable the recognition of Kosovo's insurance policies within CEFTA.
