RE:Decision of EU not to open chapters 23, 24...
The decision to not open the Chapters 23 and 24 was not a surprise to Serbia despite what they said in the news following the meeting. They were expecting this outcome.
The Netherlands, whose EU chairmanship ended on June 30, was expected to get consensus for Serbia to open Chapters 23 and 24 but Croatia essentially blocked it.
The Dutch EU presidency has now ended and, the next EU president, Slovakia, has announced earlier that opening new chapters with Serbia will be one of its priorities in the EU enlargement policy.
At the end of the Dutch Presidency of the European Union Croatia has added new requirements to Serbia and as a result no greenlight was given for opening chapters 23 and 24 of Serbia’s EU accession talks. Apart from three known conditions (full cooperation with the International War Crimes Tribunal, the revocation of the law giving Serbia powers for prosecution of war crimes across the former Yugoslavia and guarantees for the rights of the Croatian minority in Serbia) Croatia has also demanded regulation of the issues of war crimes victims, individuals who have gone missing and access to secret archives. The other member states did not agree with that and the meeting of the enlargement working group ended without any progress made.
Another description of Crotia's demands for Serbia to open Chapters 23 and 24 are listed as the following: Serbia's full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; full implementation of Serbia's domestic and international obligations to protect minority rights, including the rights of the Croat minority in Serbia; and avoiding disputes over jurisdiction in war crimes trials.
Whether or not Serbia joins the EU by 2020 or later, this procedural delay in the EU integration process has no impact on Erin Ventures.
Serbia needs to form their government and then we will see where Pobrdje is located on the list of things to do.
Is it at the top of the list because it's an easy one to do or is it at the bottom of the list because it's not important in the grand scheme of things that Serbia has to deal with?
We all know that if Pobrdje is not given to Erin Ventures, we're looking at another year before the Feasibility Study and two more years before production. If Erin Ventures is given to Pobrdje, traditional financing will be available and cashflow will begin in 6-8 months.
A buyout or JV partnership is a very remote possibility, in my opinion.
That's the reality of the situation that we find ourselves in today.
Cheers,
VB