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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

European Commission notes Serbia’s progress in many areas

Belgrade, 30 October 2024

Prime Minister Miloš Vučević said today that the European Commission’s Annual Report on Serbia 2024 notes the country’s progress in numerous areas, primarily in the economic sphere.

Vučević stated at a news conference that Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret had handed him the report while providing certain verbal clarifications and remarks on key issues.

He pointed out that the government will now analyse this document in detail and will certainly inform the Serbian public about it.

The Prime Minister noted that this is an important report for Serbia, because it represents an essential roadmap for its European integration and an analysis of the country’s annual progress, as well as an assessment of the level of readiness for EU membership.

The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with Serbia’s progress in the field of economy – macroeconomic security and stability and fiscal discipline.

He stated that he is satisfied with the noted progress in terms of the Green Agenda, that is, environmental protection and climate change, noting that there is still much work to be done in that area.

Serbia has made progress in the areas of justice, freedom, security, statistics, taxation, and the trans-European network, but it certainly needs to do more he said. Of course, talks on the most sensitive set of issues, regarding alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy, are ahead, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the analysis of this issue is typically simplified, focusing on whether Serbia has complied with some statements and declarations, while neglecting the fact that the country has shown in many concrete fields that membership in the EU is its strategic commitment and that it remains its main goal and key policy.

He said that it is necessary for Serbia to be more efficient in some fields, first of all, when it comes to Cluster 2, which concerns internal trade, and Cluster 5, which refers to agriculture.

Serbia had a government in a technical mandate for almost half of this year, the Prime Minister recalled and added that this government, which was elected in May, essentially assumed responsibility for Serbia’s further European path.

Vučević mentioned that some good things were done in that period, not only in terms of the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Serbia and the EU regarding mineral resources and cooperation in the field of energy, as well as environmental protection, but the Government also adopted the Reform Agenda at the beginning of this month, i.e., Serbia’s plan related to the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which was confirmed by Brussels.

Giaufret stated that the European Commission’s Annual Report on Serbia 2024 shows that the country has met the criteria for opening Cluster 3, and that further progress will continue to be determined by the headway in the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Priština.

According to him, the Commission reiterated its assessment from previous years that Serbia had met the criteria for opening Cluster 3 on competition and inclusive growth, and that it is now up to Member States to decide whether overall progress has been made for opening this cluster.

He pointed out that the Report is part of the package presented today in Brussels for candidates and potential candidates for EU membership.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia noted that there is currently a real momentum for EU enlargement and that in the previous year, the Union made important steps towards the integration of new members, stressing that enlargement will remain a priority for the new European Commission, which will soon take office.

He also said that progressive alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy is part of the negotiation framework, as well as that the Union wants Serbia to be part of its family.

Photos by: Slobodan Miljević