The Serbian parliament adopted Wednesday the amendments to the Law on the Election of MPs, and thereby abolished blank resignations, which was one of the conditions for getting the European Commission's positive opinion for the obtaining of the EU candidate status.

A total of 119 out of 128 ruling coalition MPs voted in favor of the amendments, whereas the opposition MPs did not attend the voting.

The adopted amendments envisage that MPs should personally hand in their resignations to the Serbian parliament speaker within three days since validation, and that the mandates are granted according to election lists.

The Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) amendment envisages that an MP whose tenure has come to an end shall be replaced by a member of his party who is next in line on the electoral list.

The League of Social-Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) amendment ensures that one in three candidates on the electoral list shall be a woman, as opposed to the original version of the bill which required one-to-four ratio.

However, the amendment tabled by the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) envisages that a female MP who loses her mandate shall be replaced by the next candidate on the party's electoral list regardless of their gender.

In case a candidate's MP mandate is terminated due to his assuming of a position at the Serbian government, the mandate can, under certain conditions, be granted to someone else within the same parliament convocation.

The parliament thus adopted one of the crucial laws necessary for Serbia's further EU pathway, and it is yet to adopt laws on the funding of political activities, public property and restitution.

As Chairman of the European Integrations Committee Laszlo Varga tod Tanjug earlier, the laws from the European agenda should be adopted before the summer holidays, so as to make sure that Serbia will receive a positive opinion of the European Commission.