Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic and Chief Executive of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) Rolf-Dieter Heuer agreed today that Serbia should become an associate member of this organisation by year-end.

Djelic, who is on a working visit to Geneva, underlined in a statement to Tanjug news agency that this is a common goal of the negotiations that started in Geneva and recalled that Serbia applied for CERN membership in 2008, and that the managing board approved the start of negotiations last year.

The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that membership in CERN is important, not only for the future of science of our country, but also for technology because Serbia would be allowed to be one of around 20 countries that participate in the most advanced scientific research in the field of physics.

In this way, Serbia would get to the end of this year with two major European news - one that concerns our progress towards candidate status for EU membership and the second that Serbia is returning to CERN through the front door.

Djelic recalled that Serbia, at that time as Yugoslavia, was one of the founders of this organisation in 1954, but it withdrew from it in 1961.

Once Serbia joins CERN, Serbian physicists will be able to participate in all of CERN’s activities as equal partners, Djelic observed.

It is vital that we recognise the chance for our engineers and economy, because every year CERN buys products and services to the amount of around €260 million, Djelic noted, adding that with Serbia’s accession to this organisation, CERN’s tenders will be open for Serbian engineers, institutes and the economy.

This means both scientific and economic benefits for Serbia from its membership in CERN, he explained.

He also pointed out the advantages in terms of education, because CERN is a great school of science and technology, where many innovations, such as the internet, were invented. He concluded that by joining CERN, Serbia will once again become an equal member of the European scientific community.

During his visit to Geneva, Djelic will attend a conference of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Policy of the UN and will attend a presentation of “Peer review” reports – expert analysis of the competition policy in Serbia.

The Deputy Prime Minister will hold a series of bilateral meetings with representatives of UNCTAD and with representatives of the UN and the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).

He will also tour the University of Technical Sciences in Lausanne and talk with university officials on cooperation in the project to build a Centre for Nanosciences in Belgrade within the project “Research and development in the public sector”, funded by the European Investment Bank.