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Serbia - Relations with the European Union

Serbia was long a potential candidate country for EU accession. In its Feasibility Report in April 2005, the Commission judged that Serbia and Montenegro had made sufficient progress in meeting the prerequisites and developing the capacity to negotiate a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU Improved co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) also contributed to this positive decision. The Council of Ministers subsequently approved the decision on 25 April 2005 and asked the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate.

In 2002, the F.R.Y. Government established a commission to coordinate cooperation with the ICTY and began serving warrants for the arrest of persons indicted for war crimes who sought refuge in the country. The crackdown on organized crime following the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Djindjic also resulted in the apprehension and transfer to The Hague of several persons indicted for war crimes. In 2004 and 2005, a significant number of ICTY indictees surrendered to the tribunal.

The EU formally took the decision to open SAA negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on 3 October 2005 with the ceremonial opening of negotiations following on 10 October. Official and technical rounds of negotiations followed every couple of months. The SAA creates a contractual relationship between a country of the region and the EU with clearly outlined responsibilities on both sides. As a result, the SAA negotiations remain dependent on continued co-operation with the ICTY, and the Commission has the option to disrupt SAA negotiations if cooperation with the ICTY was deemed insufficient.

Despite a constant stream of pro-Serbian rhetoric from both European capitals and the EU itself, from the Belgrade perspective some in the machinery of the EU seemed to feel Europe was getting tired of handholding its perennial "problem child." The view from the EU bureaucracy in Belgrade was increasingly that Europe was willing to continue to move forward on things that are easy to accomplish - minor adjustments to visa regimes and restarting SAA talks - but was losing its willingness to drag Serbia into the EU absent indications that Serbia truly wanted to join and is willing to do the work necessary to get there. The election of a Radical Party leader to be Speaker of the Serbian parliament with the full cooperation of the Prime Minister's putatively democratic-oriented party provided a further disincentive to many in the EU for working to bring Serbia closer to Europe.

In the meantime, a Serbia surrounded by EU members and serious aspirants may be increasingly bypassed as businesses find ways to work around what is becoming a European anachronism. Increasingly the impression was that the EU was washing its hands of Serbia somewhat - having finally come to terms with the fact that Serbia is just too difficult, they've decided to find work-arounds. The most telling example of Europe's willingness to leave Serbia to its fate was the astounding change in cargo transit routes through the Balkans in the year since Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU. Long-haul transit traffic in 2007 was down a whopping 36-40 percent from 2006 - mostly because truckers were going through Romania and Bulgaria, which even with worse roads shaved 4 days off transit times (and toll and transit charges) compared to going through Serbia because of fewer border and paperwork delays.

Following the formation of the "Spring Coalition" government in Serbia on 15 May 2007, EU Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn visited Belgrade May 16 to engage with President Tadic and PM Kostunica. Press coverage of Rehn's remarks, and concurrent reactions from European capitals on the formation of the government painted a picture in local media of an EU eager to re-engage with Serbia on integration. The announcement of the conclusion of a relatively minor visa facilitation agreement added to the public feel-good mood following Rehn's visit (despite the dismissal by many of the agreement as "window dressing").

The three conditions for restarting SAA talks were: formation of a new, democratic government; a declaration by that government of its commitment to fully cooperate with the ICTY; and concrete action to do so. The first two, he said, could be considered done - Tadic called for Mladic's arrest on May 16, and Kostunica reiterated ICTY cooperation as a plank in his governmental platform on May 15. Concrete action by the government, though, is not yet in evidence, and has not been since Kostunica unveiled his now largely discredited "action plan" in summer 2006.

On 07 June 2007 the Commission announced the resumption of SAA talks with Serbia, due to improved co-operation with the ICTY. On the 7 November the Commission initialled the SAA. The SAA was signed on 29 April 2008 at the GAERC in parallel with the Interim Agreement (IA) on trade and trade related issues. Both agreements were however frozen from implementation on the EU part, while Serbia started implementing the Interim Agreement unilaterally. The implementation would start as soon as the European Commission decided that Serbia fully co-operated with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

The EU immediately froze the related Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) pending full cooperation with the ICTY. In 2007, Serbia assisted in the arrest of two of the remaining six persons indicted for war crimes, Zdravko Tolimir and Vlastimir Djordjevic, and in 2008 the government arrested and extradited Stojan Zupljanin and Radovan Karadzic. Following ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s reports to the UN Security Council that he was satisfied with Serbia’s level of cooperation with the ICTY, the EU agreed in December 2009 to implement the ITA. The EU also implemented visa liberalization for Serbian citizens in December 2009, allowing visa-free travel to Schengen countries for business and tourism. Serbia submitted its candidacy application to the EU on December 22, 2009, and in June 2010 the EU agreed to submit Serbia’s SAA to member state parliaments for ratification.

Following Serbia’s agreement to engage with Kosovo on practical issues in September 2010, the EU formally accepted Serbia’s membership application in October 2010 and set several political conditions for Serbia’s continued EU integration, including continued reforms, dialogue with Kosovo, and full ICTY cooperation.

The last two persons indicted for war crimes, Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic and Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic, were arrested in 2011, on the eve of the issuing of an EC opinion on Serbia's progress toward EU membership. In May 2011 Serbia arrested and extradited Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to stand trial for committing crimes against humanity in the early 1990s. In July, it also detained and extradited the last remaining fugitive, Goran Hadzic. With these arrests, Serbia had completed the most difficult chapters in its cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, according to President Tadic, and had accomplished a key prerequisite for European integration. However, Serbian cooperation with the ICTY is not finished. ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz visited Belgrade in September 2011 and commended Serbia for its actions, but stressed that Serbia needed to find and apprehend the people who facilitated Mladic and Hadzic’s evasion from arrest for more than 16 years.

The European Commission issued its opinion on Serbia on October 12, 2011 recommending that Serbia be granted formal EU candidate status, with the understanding that Serbia re-engage in the EU-facilitated dialogue with Kosovo, and move swiftly to implement in good faith agreements reached to date. The Commission did not recommend a date for opening accession talks, until further significant progress has been achieved regarding normalizing relations with Kosovo. The European Council will need to decide in December whether or not to approve the Commission’s recommendation to grant Serbia candidate status.

On March 1st, 2012 the European Union granted Serbia membership candidate status, citing the country's improved ties with Kosovo. The 27 EU leaders announced their decision at a summit in Belgrade. European Council Herman Van Rompuy called it a remarkable achievement for Serbia — a country that was bombed by NATO forces just 13 years earlier because of its war against Kosovo's ethnic Albanian separatists. "We agreed tonight to grant Serbia the status of EU candidate country. This is a remarkable achievement, a result of the efforts demonstrated by both sides in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. I hope it will encourage Serbia to undertake further efforts in order to meet the political and economic criteria for EU membership. It is also my hope that Belgrade will continue to support to regional cooperation and good neighborly relations in the western Balkans."

European Union ((EU) leaders agreed to start membership talks with Serbia by January 2014 in a move that recognized Belgrade's efforts to improve relations with Kosovo. The EU leaders announced the decision on June 28, 2013 during a summit in Brussels. They also agreed that the 27-nation bloc should begin negotiations with Kosovo on a so-called association agreement, a first step toward eventual EU membership. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the decision to hold membership talks with Serbia was a "historic moment for the Balkans."

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said in Belgrade on 09 September 2013 that Serbia's leaders had shown vision and courage in making hard decisions and facing great political challenges, which resulted in all of the EU members deciding to open the accession talks without new requirements. The EU has a list of obligations Serbia has to fulfill. According to Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Serbia is aware of its obligations and the government is preparing a team fast that will guide it through the talks. "It is unlikely that someone can drive Serbia off its European path," Nikolic remarked.

The year 2013 was a historic year for relations between the EU and Serbia with the decision to open accession negotiations on 28 June and the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) on 1 September. The Progress Report on Serbia is part of the 2013 Enlargement Package adopted by the European Commission on 16 October. The Commission concluded that Serbia sufficiently fulfils the political criteria. Continued visible and sustainable progress in the normalisation of relations with Kosovo1*, including the implementation of agreements reached so far, will remain essential. Serbia will also have to sustain over time the reform momentum in the key areas of the rule of law, particularly judicial reform and anti-corruption policy, independence of key institutions, media freedom, anti-discrimination policy, protection of minorities and business environment.

Serbia sufficiently fulfils the political criteria. It has reinvigorated the momentum of reforms and has stepped up high-level contacts with neighbouring countries in an effort to make a positive contribution to regional cooperation. The government and the parliament have applied enhanced rules for the consultation of stakeholders on legislation and policies. Key and comprehensive strategies and action plans have been adopted in the areas of judiciary, fight against corruption and anti-discrimination. An action plan for the implementation of the national strategy for the improvement of the status of the Roma was adopted in June. As regards freedom of expression, defamation was decriminalised. Serbia also continued to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Serbia has taken significant steps towards a visible and sustainable improvement of relations with Kosovo. Its engagement in the EU-facilitated dialogue resulted in April in a landmark "First agreement of principles governing the normalisation of relations", complemented in May by a comprehensive implementation plan. This represents a fundamental change in the relations between the two sides. Serbia needed to remain fully committed to the timely implementation of the “First Agreement” and its implementation plan, together with other agreements reached in the dialogue. It is important that Serbia continues to encourage wide participation of Kosovo Serbs in the forthcoming local elections in Kosovo.

Serbia still has to pay particular attention to the independence of key institutions, notably the judiciary. The effective implementation of the strategies and action plans in the fields of judiciary and anti-corruption will test Serbia's preparedness and willingness to move forward. Serbia’s track record in effectively investigating, prosecuting and convicting perpetrators of corruption and organised crime remains to be seriously strengthened. An enhanced drive in public administration reform is needed. Serbia needed to move forward the implementation of the media strategy starting with the adoption of the expected legislation on public information and the media, on public service broadcasters and on electronic communications.

While some additional efforts were made by the authorities and independent institutions on the protection of other vulnerable groups, in particular of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex (LGBTI) population, sufficient political support is still lacking in this area. It was in particular regrettable that the pride parade had to be cancelled for the third year in a row on security grounds; this was a missed opportunity to show respect for fundamental rights. Further attention is to be given to actively protect media, human right defenders and other vulnerable groups, including LGBTI population, from threats and attacks from radical groups. Recent progress in improving the situation of minorities, including the Roma, needed to be further built up including with additional financial resources. Consistent implementation of the legal framework on the protection of minorities throughout Serbia remains to be fully ensured, notably in the areas of education, use of language, and access to media and religious services in minority language.

In 2012, Serbia went through another recession and the economy contracted by 1.7%. The economy slightly recovered in the first half of 2013. High exports growth has softened the effects of depressed domestic demand. Fiscal consolidation efforts were taken mostly on the revenue side. The process of restructuring state-owned enterprises was revived. Some progress has been made with regard to fighting corruption and improving property rights.

Serbia needed to make significant efforts in restructuring its economy so as to cope in the medium-term with the competitive pressures and market forces within the Union. State presence in the economy is significant and state-owned companies continued to accumulate big losses. Serbia needed to continue improving the business environment and should make strong efforts to develop a competitive private sector. The functioning of market mechanisms is hampered by legal uncertainty and corruption. The informal sector remains an important challenge.

Serbia continued to focus on aligning with the EU legislation, an effort which is underpinned by an updated National Plan for the Adoption of the Acquis. Good progress was made in public procurement with the adoption of a new Law on Public Procurement The issue of the Central Bank’s independence has been partially addressed with amendments to the law. Two new laws were adopted in the fields of corporate accounting and auditing, aiming at further alignment in the area of company law. The institutional framework for SME policy and SMEs access to finance improved. Measures taken to improve the business environment, in particular on the business impact assessment for new legislation, are a welcome development.

It will be important that Serbia redoubles its efforts to align with the EU legislation with particular attention to the effective implementation of adopted legislation. Serbia will need to intensify efforts towards the alignment and implementation of the acquis in the fields of environment and in the energy sector. Further efforts are also needed in the areas of state aid control. The GMO law needed to be aligned with EU legislation to enable WTO accession. Substantial efforts are needed to develop public-sector financial management and external audit capacity.

The Interim Agreement (IA) of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) continued to be smoothly implemented. An agreement has been reached on the adaptation of the trade provisions of the SAA in order to take into account Croatia's accession to the EU and with a view to maintaining traditional trade flows.

The European Union said 03 December 2015 that it would open the first two rounds of accession talks with Serbia this month. One of the chapters will focus on relations with Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, which is not recognized by Serbia. However, it has struck a series of deals with Kosovo brokered by the EU to try to regulate relations between the two. Accession talks will begin with chapters on Kosovo and financial controls. “We will be coming to Brussels with big expectations and the firm belief that Serbia belongs to Europe,” Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said.

In August 2016 a poll conducted by the Belgrade-based NGO Institute for European Affairs found that a slim majority (51 percent) of 18- to 29-year-olds wanted their country, an accession candidate, to terminate its integration into the EU. By contrast, two thirds of the older respondents support integration. Other results of the poll are less surprising: 80 percent of the total population are against recognizing the independence of the former southern province of Kosovo, 82 percent are against a possible accession to NATO. Likewise, the orthodox "Mother Russia" is considered the best friend, whereas, traditionally, Croatia is the worst enemy.

Key Dates

• 1999: The EU proposes the new Stabilisation and Association Process for five countries of Southeast Europe
• June 2000: The European Council states that all the Stabilisation and Association countries are potential candidates for EU membership
• June 2003: Thessaloniki Summit: EU perspective for the Western Balkans is confirmed
• April 2008: Signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between Serbia and the EU
• December 2009: Visa-free travel to Schengen area for citizens of Serbia; Serbia presents its application for membership of the EU
• February 2010: The Interim Agreement on Trade and Trade-related issues (part of the SAA) enters into force
• October 2011: The European Commission issues its Opinion on Serbia's application for EU membership
• March 2012: Serbia obtains the status of candidate country
• April 2013: The European Commission recommends the opening of accession negotiations with Serbia
• June 2013: The European Council decides to open accession negotiations with Serbia
• September 2013: The SAA enters into force; the analytical examination of the acquis (“screening”) starts.