Serbia must take advantage of the European Commission’s report of the country, which found limited progress but no setbacks, Minister for European Integration Tanja Miščević told Euractiv.
This was the general conclusion following the presentation of the European Commission’s report on the country – backed up by the statement by EU Delegation Head to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, who said this year’s package was historic.
Serbia has made limited progress, “stagnating” in some areas but not regressing in any, according to the Commission’s report. This was described as “not good enough” with more needing to be done in certain areas.
However, according to European Integrations Minister Tanja Miščević, the positive assessment of the Commission on almost all areas for Serbia should be used for talks with EU countries to open new clusters as soon as possible.
“For me, it has been a stable decision for Serbia to become a member of the EU since December 2020, and every subsequent agreement, and then the report confirmed that. Changes are an essential element. They also affect the pace of growth and development, more precisely, the reform process in Serbia,” the minister told Euractiv Serbia.
“I will agree that successful reform requires stability, a more stable growth of preparedness for membership, and a period without elections. This is what I wish for the new government,” she added.
In the report, there are also recommendations and concrete steps ahead of Serbia that it must take, among other reforms, in the next year. But it depends on the member states when the formal progress in the negotiation process will come.
And, while waiting for those “concrete decisions”, the EU earmarked a €6 billion aid package for the Western Balkans, which will be paid out in accordance with achieved reforms – €2 billion are non-refundable grants, while €4 billion cover favourable loans for the next three-year period.
After the pandemic, the EU set up a recovery fund, where each member state drew up a reform plan and then received money according to the results.
“We will apply the same principle to the Western Balkans. If the countries of the region implement reforms, the money will be paid from the Growth Plan Fund,” Giaufret told the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
The prerequisite for integration into the EU’s internal market is that the region’s countries integrate themselves economically, following all the standards that exist in the EU.
“According to our estimates, the integration of the region could lead to an increase in the GDP of all regional economies by 10%. In order to achieve this integration into the single market, it is necessary to implement reforms. On the one hand, there is harmonisation and harmonisation of legislation with the EU. Also, it is necessary to carry out all those structural reforms so that regional economies can compete with the single market”, Giaufret added.
(Euractiv.rs | Jelena Nikolić)
