PrEUgovor : Report on Progress of Serbia in Chapters 23 and 24
PrEUgovor : Report on Progress of Serbia in Chapters 23 and 24

Author(s): Not Specified Author
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Civil Society, Security and defense, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Geopolitics, Politics and Identity, Corruption - Transparency - Anti-Corruption, Peace and Conflict Studies, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
Published by: BCBP Beogradski centar za bezbednosnu politiku
Keywords: Serbia EU accession; European Commission (EC); Serbia-Kosovo relations; Anti-corruption goals; Gender-based violence; Migration policy; Asylum policy; Human trafficking
Summary/Abstract: Over the past six months, the coalition PrEUgovor has been monitoring the state of play regarding the key policy areas in the process of Serbia’s accession to the EU. These areas include the political criteria and policies covered under chapters 23 and 24 of the European acquis in the negotiation process. The monitored period was marked by two key events: the release of Screening Reports for chapters 23 and 24 by the European Commission, and drafting of the Action Plans for these two chapters. Additionally, the Progress Report for Serbia for 2014 was released by the EC in October, so this report is envisaged as a commentary and an update to this document. This report presents concrete case studies, well researched and documented by the coalition’s members, in order to illustrate problems in the areas covered. Lastly, it also contains comments on the Action Plan draft for chapter 23. Generally, the progress in the areas covered by the PrEUgovor report can best be described as uneven and erratic. When it comes to normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo no progress was achieved, mostly due to elections and the inability to form the government in Pristina. Although there was change in legislation regarding civilian oversight of the security sector, the opportunity to systematically regulate this area was missed. The area of the fight against corruption witnessed partial progress with the adoption of new regulations, although the opportunity was missed to fulfil anti-corruption goals to a greater extent. In the area of the protection of women from gender-based violence, protection of children and protection of the victims of violence there was no further progress. In the migration and asylum policy areas no substantial progress was achieved. The same goes for the fight against human trafficking where there still exist numerous obstacles on the path towards full harmonization of domestic legal system with the European standards.

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