German industry has two demands from Serbia: Europe and – Europe

The CEO of the German Chamber of Commerce, Volker Treier, who was in Belgrade to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Chamber of German Companies in Serbia, stated that German industry expected two things from Serbia: first, an unambiguous commitment to the EU, and second, that Serbia maintained open and joint communication with Germany and Europe.

– My first demand is clear, and that is an unambiguous commitment to Europe and the European market. German industry expects that. Serbia is important to us, German companies have created more than 80,000 jobs here. Europe must be faster and Serbia must believe in a common path. Only together can we face global challenges and present our own solutions – said Treier on the “CadezTalk" show by Marko Cadez, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (CCIS), which was broadcast on Euronews Serbia on Saturday.

Speaking about the second request, Trier emphasized that the EU, when it came to Serbia, should play the role of a constructive critic, CCIS reports.

– Serbia has an important role in the Western Balkans region through the Berlin Process, and that is good. From that position, we need to clearly communicate what is needed for Serbia to progress towards the EU. As a landlocked country, Serbia depends on external energy supplies, and that is why it is important to openly talk about the challenges that this brings in harmonizing with European rules. We need to communicate this together, which we are already doing. Because if we lose Serbia from the European context, it will be a problem for everyone – said Treier.

The guest of the “CadezTalk” show also spoke openly about the issue of EU enlargement and the conflicts between member states on that issue.

– We need to connect in terms of Europe, because the problems are so big today that we do not have time to discuss them for another 20 years. We need to build a security architecture together. We need common access to raw materials. But no one can be completely independent because no one has supply chains, from mines to consumer applications. Germany doesn’t have them, USA doesn’t either. China has provided resources in Africa, but there are still enough. We need to develop both defense and digitalization together. We can only do all this if we cooperate at the European level, including the Western Balkans – Treier emphasizes.

Privredna komora Srbije

German Chamber of Commerce

Volker Treir

Marko Čadež

process of accession of Serbia to EU