Serbia’s EU accession negotiations on Chapter 32: Three years of negotiations out of the public eye
Serbia’s EU accession negotiations on Chapter 32: Three years of negotiations out of the public eye

Author(s): Miloš Đinđić
Subject(s): Public Administration, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Fiscal Politics / Budgeting, EU-Legislation
Published by: Centar za evropske politike CEP
Keywords: Serbia; EU accession; Chapter 32; Negotiations; Public transparency; European Union; Policy reforms; EU integration; Public awareness; Governance;
Summary/Abstract: Five years have passed since Serbia began its accession negotiations with the European Union. Since then, the country has opened 16 out of the 35 negotiation chapters of the EU acquis and has temporarily closed two. Chapter 32, on financial control in the public sector, was among the first chapters to be opened, in December 2015. While Serbia has been in the process of negotiating with the EU in this area for more than three years now, it is di cult to assess the country’s progress since there has been hardly any communication to the public on developments in this field. This lack of transparency about the state of play on Chapter 32 suggests that Serbia could be struggling to achieve sufficient and speedy progress. Moreover, the absence of information about the measures Serbia has taken in this negotiation undermines democratic principles of accountability and weakens the public’s support for, and confidence in, the EU accession process.

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