At the VIII Meeting of the European Integration Parliamentary Committees of States participating in the Stabilisation and Association Process of the South East Europe, the importance of the role of the Parliament with regard to using the IPA funds was pointed out. The participants emphasised that monitoring the received funds should be a separate segment of interest of the parliaments, and that the priority projects for which additional EU funds are needed must be carefully evaluated, the implementation of which would in the end result in overall progress in the accession process.

A member of the Committee on European Integration of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Srđa Popović moderated the session, which was dedicated to the strategic document on enlargement and key challenges for the period 2013-2014. On this occasion, the participating states presented the findings that the European Commission had delivered to the countries in its regular annual reports. In that sense, the new EU approach to the negotiations was pointed out, according to which the issues of judiciary and the rule of law, as well as combating corruption and organised crime, were to remain the focus of the negotiation process until the very end of negotiations. The participants agreed that nowadays the accession process was more severe and more comprehensive than previously, as well as that progress toward acquiring membership depended on the steps that each country should take in order to fulfil the set criteria, based on the principle of their own values. This is crucial for establishing a credo in the enlargement policy and for providing encouragement to the countries to continue on their path of far-reaching reforms.

Apart from that, the topics in the COSAP meeting included visa liberalisation, and the functioning of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). It was pointed out that CEFTA represented an excellent framework of regional cooperation from the economic perspective, but also the preparations for meeting the economic criteria. 

On behalf of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr Srđa Popović, a member of the Committee on European Integration, participated in the COSAP meeting.