The Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union organised a panel discussion on 3 July entitled "Serbia’s Reform Momentum: From Commitment to Implementation", which analysed the results achieved so far, as well as the remaining "homework" on the path towards membership.
After the Ambassador of Serbia to the European Union, Danijel Apostolović, opened the event, Serbia’s progress was addressed by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ana Brnabić, the Minister for European Integration, Nemanja Starović, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marko Đurić.
Ana Brnabić: Our top priority was to improve the electoral environment
As she had previously announced in the media, the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament spoke about the results achieved, with a particular focus on the rule of law, the implementation of ODIHR recommendations, and the further improvement of electoral conditions.
Speaking about what has been accomplished, Ana Brnabić, who opened the panel, stated that five judicial laws had been adopted in cooperation, communication, and strong partnership with the Venice Commission.
"These laws resolve the issue that was most criticised by our partners from the European Union, the European Commission, and certain member states. This matter has now, in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission, essentially been clarified and corrected.
I want to say more about our key priority, which is the implementation of the review recommendations, because for us, that was truly the most important issue - how to improve the electoral environment in Serbia.
Following the 2023 elections, we received a report containing 25 recommendations. To date, we have implemented 12 of those 25 recommendations, and out of seven priority recommendations, we have fully implemented as many as four.
Work is continuing, and as early as next Monday, 6 July, another draft law aligned with OSCE recommendations will enter parliamentary procedure, covering a further three recommendations from the review. This will bring the number of implemented recommendations to 15 out of twenty-five," Ana Brnabić said at the panel in Brussels.
In this regard, she stated that she considers the amendment to the Law on the Unified Electoral Roll to be the most crucial step, which established a ten-member commission tasked with reviewing and analysing the electoral roll.
"This commission consists of ten members and is entirely inclusive. For the first time in history, it is composed of experts proposed by the parliamentary majority, the parliamentary opposition, and civil society organisations. The commission was established under the new law as a permanent body that will operate indefinitely, aiming to increase citizens' trust in the electoral roll. This was one of the key OSCE recommendations. Following the adoption of the Law on Financing Political Activities, which will be on the agenda from Monday, we expect it to be passed around 12 or 30 July, depending on the length of the debate," she said.
Starović: Serbia faces the most demanding negotiating framework
Speaking about the European integration process, Minister Nemanja Starović reminded the audience that Serbia began accession negotiations with the European Union in 2014, and the first negotiating chapters were opened in December 2015. Over the following five years, under the methodology in place at the time, we opened 18 negotiating chapters, while two were provisionally closed.
He noted that in the meantime, a new enlargement methodology was adopted in 2020, which Serbia was the first country to accept.
"That year, it was confirmed that Serbia had opened Cluster 1, given that all the chapters belonging to it had already been opened. At the end of 2021, the European Commission recommended the opening of both Cluster 4 and Cluster 3. Member states in the Council of the EU accepted the recommendation to open Cluster 4, bringing the total number of opened chapters to 22. However, the decision to open Cluster 3 was postponed due to the stance that Serbia should first complete the process of amending its Constitution, which was done in January 2022 following a referendum. Although that process was politically very demanding, it was successfully completed. Unfortunately, it turned out that even this was not enough.
From the beginning of 2022 to the present day, we have faced a lack of the necessary political consensus among member states in the Council of the EU to open Cluster 3. Consequently, the process is practically at a standstill, despite the fact that the European Commission has recommended opening this cluster in five consecutive annual reports on Serbia," the minister noted.
"Of course, I am not here to voice our grievances, as that is largely a futile exercise, but it is important to present the current state of affairs. It is also worth highlighting that Serbia faces the most demanding negotiating framework, even in a technical and procedural sense.
To open a specific cluster, Serbia must simultaneously meet the opening benchmarks for individual negotiating chapters. Unlike Serbia, candidate countries that began negotiations later, such as Albania, Ukraine, and Moldova, do not have opening benchmarks for negotiating chapters. Because of this, they are able to open clusters in a package, as seen in the case of Albania, which opened all clusters over the past year," Starović stated.
Siniša Mali: Serbia is already well integrated into the EU supply chain
The audience in Brussels was also addressed by the Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali, who prepared a presentation showcasing Serbia's development and economic growth.
"There are two key points I would like you to remember from this presentation. First: Serbia is by far the largest economy in the Western Balkans. Second: our economy is already well integrated into the European Union's supply chain. Looking at just the first quarter of this year, Serbia is the fourth fastest-growing economy in Europe. While the Eurozone grew by 0.3 per cent, Serbia grew by 3.2 per cent. If you look at the results since 2018, Serbia is the fifth fastest-growing economy in Europe."
Minister Mali emphasised that, despite all challenges, the Serbian economy has demonstrated great resilience and macroeconomic stability.
The Reform Agenda
Regarding the implementation of the Reform Agenda, according to the evaluation by the Intersectoral Working Group of the National Convention on the EU for monitoring the implementation of the Reform Agenda, out of 34 reform steps whose deadlines fell due by the end of 2025, six were achieved as of 31 March 2026, while the remaining 28 were not met, representing an implementation rate of 18 per cent.
A total of over one and a half billion euros has been allocated to Serbia from the Growth Plan for the period from 2024 to 2027. Out of this funding, Serbia has received 167.59 million euros, of which as much as 111 million comes from pre-financing - money that the state received from the Union after submitting its reform agenda and committing to undertake and fulfil the steps.
(EUpravo zato)