Serbia, uncertain steps towards the "common home" According to a survey by the Serbian daily Danas, only 41% of all Serbians are in favour of EU adhesion. It’s the lowest figure recorded in the past 10 years: 18% less than the outcomes of the same survey conducted in June 2012. The daily, which published the figures at the end of January, said the decrease is due to Serbia’s rampant "economic crisis and poverty" along with "EU requirements of the acquis" and "to the contradictory messages to citizens by Serbia’s previous and present governments". Serbia obtained the status of candidate country in March 2012. But in the Progress Report published by the EU Commission past October Serbia’s candidacy was severely rejected along with adhesion negotiations. As regards Serbia’s accession the Report underlines that "further progress made towards a visible and sustainable improvement of relations with Kosovo is required before the Commission can confirm that accession negotiations can begin". Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle said that Serbia’s candidate country status is adjourned to Spring 2013, when "the European Commission will present the final monitoring report on Croatia’s preparations and potential candidate countries – on the basis of clear indications of what is needed to open accession negotiations with Serbia, with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Commission will propose negotiating a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Kosovo".EU Parliament: work in progress until next fall Five months have passed since the Secretary General of the European Parliament in Brussels decided to temporarily close the Assembly Hall located in area A of the main building (dedicated to Paul-Henri Spaak) for security reasons. In fact, various cracks had been found in the bridging joist carrying the roof of the plenary chamber. After having identified the causes, "it has been ascertained that neither the vibrations, foundations or the water leaks are the source of the problem, as initially alleged by the press", said Claude Champetter – EU Parliament Buildings Management. It was determined that the damage was caused by the wooden beams installed in 1990, a material which is more prone to deterioration. For this reason, after having considered various options, a cast iron structure will be installed in its place. "The new structure will be completely independent from the previous one – the expert pointed out – so that even if other beams should wear in the future, it won’t impact the building’s safety". The winner of the tender will be announced at the end of May. Works are due to be brought to completion by the end of October so that the plenary chamber may open again in November. For the time being the meeting of parliamentary committees groups will continue being held in Brussels while plenary meetings have been temporarily adjourned, and transferred to Strasbourg.Freedom House: world democracy is regressing Freedom in the world, progress or regression? According to the Freedom House annual report that assesses the state of global political rights and civil liberties "the number of electoral democracies stood at 117, the same as for 2011. Two countries, Georgia and Libya, achieved electoral democracy status, while two were dropped from the category, Mali and the Maldives". In particular, "the number of countries designated by Freedom in the World as Free in 2012 stood at 90, representing 43 percent of the global population, 90 countries, 58 (23% of the world population) qualified as "partly free", while a total of 47 countries were deemed Not Free, representing 24 percent of the world’s polities, nine of which have been given the survey’s lowest possible rating of 7 for both political rights and civil liberties. These are: Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. "The two worst-rated territories in the survey are Tibet – under Chinese jurisdiction – and Western Sahara". It is the seventh year running that world freedom registered more regress than improvements. The report also highlights an increase in dictatorships’ persecution campaigns against civil society organizations and independent media. "Unanimous support was given to Libya’s achievements which – according to the research – registered the most impressive freedom results in 2012, conversely from other States involved in the Arab spring, which are slowing down and even thwarting the progress towards democracy".
