The protocol was signed by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, whose country presides over the Council of the EU, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, and Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Igor Luksic.
Montenegro is the first country which negotiated and on May 16 initialled the protocol amending the SAA because of Croatia's EU accession. The amended SAA went into force on July 1, when Croatia joined the Union.
Before Croatia's accession, the European Commission began negotiations to amend SAAs with Western Balkan countries to take into account that the EU now has 28 members. Croatia's accession meant that it automatically exited the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and its trade with the CEFTA countries is conducted under the SAAs.
The Commission negotiates the amendments with the aim to retain the trade volume previous to a country's EU entry. Serbia objected to this principle for some time, while Bosnia and Herzegovina still does, seeking the possibility to protect its market by imposing higher tariffs on Croatian products.
On October 16, after the EC released a progress report, Serbia confirmed in writing that it agreed to the principle of retaining the traditional trade volume and scrapped its demand to apply to Croatian cigarettes the 57% tariff rate it applies to cigarettes from other EU countries. Before joining the EU, Croatia exported 1,620 tonnes of cigarettes to Serbia annually at the preferential tariff of 15%, which is valid within CEFTA, of which Croatia was then a member.
It is in Croatia's interest that the SAA protocols with its neighbours go into force as soon as possible, from the first day of EU membership if possible, otherwise it loses money on a daily basis because of unfavourable trading terms. All SAA protocols are valid for three years from a country's EU accession.
Despite confirming in writing that it agreed to said principle, Serbia initialled the protocol only last week. Signing is expected early next year.
Only Bosnia refuses to retain the traditional trade volume, prompting the Council of the EU to call on it yesterday to urgently revise its position so that the alignment of a temporary agreement on traditional trade with Croatia could be completed.