European Movement in Serbia about Serbia’s Progress Report published by the European Commission:

This year’s report comes at the time of, based on the decision made by the European Council, beginning of the screening of legislation in two key areas related to establishment of the rule of law – Reform of the judiciary and fundamental rights and Justice, freedom and security and at the time when we are expecting the European Council to adopt the negotiating framework and the first intergovernmental conference with the EU to be held no later than January 2014.

All this was made possible through progress in normalization of relations with Pristina and a series of meetings and agreements made under EU auspices. Government of the Republic of Serbia has shown clear and decisive will to solve this issue, which is commendable. This issue will remain dominant for further progress, but it should not cause neglect of internal reforms.

However, we want to point out the key challenges which refer to establishment of the rule of law which is important both for the citizens and their individual freedoms and to creation of a better and more certain business environment. In this respect, it is necessary to put in additional effort and demonstrate political will through concrete actions that will lead to a successful reform of the judiciary, an efficient judicial system which will be truly independent from politics, transparent and depoliticized public administration, independent and free media, successful and systemic fight against corruption, efficient protection of minorities and implementation of non-discrimination policies.

In addition, generally small and insufficient progress has been registered in areas which are related to assuming the obligations of EU membership in particular sectoral policies. We think that the beginning of negotiations will provide a framework for better coordinated and planned implementation of commitments and existing strategies and laws in these areas.

We particularly welcome new mechanisms which the Commission is planning on establishing in cooperation with accession countries and which are related to economic management focused on results and strengthening of competitiveness. It is vitally important that the EU notices and highlights these problems as well and that it encourages timely preparation of economic foundations, along with political criteria which remain “in the focus” of the accession process. It is necessary that Serbia implements reforms in order to enable sustainable growth and to create jobs for citizens, as well as to improve its public finance and public procurement systems and competitiveness. Reforms in the public sector are also very important, as well as fighting corruption and eliminating legal uncertainty.

Agreeing with the assessment that Serbia is entering a new stage of relations with the EU, we consider that a reform process which produces results is essential for modernization of Serbia.

We remind that openness and inclusiveness of the negotiation process are both demonstration of proper management and potentially useful and necessary for successful negotiations and reforms. However, we consider that establishment of transparent mechanisms and regular and effective consulting of all stakeholders in the accession process leaves enough room for additional and prompt improvement.

At the same time, we support recognition of the importance of better and more regular informing of citizens about benefits and opportunities, but also about challenges ahead of us on the way to EU membership.