Dacic: Still no agreement with Pristina

"I would like it to be true, but we have not reached an agreement," Dacic told reporters after meeting with EU officials. He recalled that in his meetings to date with Kosovo's Prime Minister Hasim Taci, Pristina has not budged from its position that the association of Serb municipalities in Kosovo should not have executive and legislative powers. Dacic said he agrees with the stance of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, who does not want the negotiators coming together without hope that an agreement will be made. "I hope the next round of talks with Taci will be held March 20 in Brussels as scheduled," said the Serbian prime minister. Dacic: Harmonize regulations to be ready for EU Serbia should not wait to begin accession talks before harmonizing its regulations with the EU, it should do it now so that once the talks start, it will be ready to join the Union, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said Friday in Brussels. Dacic, Health Minister Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic and Minister of Trade and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic conferred Friday with several European commissioners. Dacic and Djukic-Dejanovic informed Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Tonio Borg about the problem of aflatoxin in milk. The Serbian prime minister told reporters after the meeting that the problem is an obvious example of harmonized regulations. He explained that Serbia's regulations about the legal level of aflatoxin in food for human consumption were up to European standards, while the regulations on animal feed were not. This is why Serbia will soon open a national reference laboratory for food testing to eliminate these kinds of problems, he said. Dacic and Minister Ljajic met with Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht to talk about the effects Croatia's EU accession will have on trade between the two countries. "We discussed what the customs rates will be, and we will also ask for higher sugar quotas," said the prime minister. Dacic also met with Commissioner for Education and Culture Androulla Vassiliou, and Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik. He says he plans to met with the remaining European commissioners in the coming weeks, in order to keep the dialogue with Pristina from overshadowing the other topics relevant for Serbia's European integration. "The dialogue is the key issue, but we also need to discuss other topic which are important for the life of the people," said Dacic.