Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević stated today, during the panel “The Issue of Serbia’s European Integration,” that “2026 is the year in which Serbia will reach the alignment with the European Union law.”
Speaking at the 2024 Ambassadors’ Conference, held at Sava Centar, Miščević said the focus would be “on achieving full alignment by the end of 2026, and on the other hand, on proving the implementation of everything we adopt as domestic law and practice derived from EU law.”
She emphasised that that was a “seriously demanding task” requiring considerable engagement from relevant Serbian authorities, including the Ministry of European Integration and Serbia’s representatives abroad.
Miščević explained that the task went beyond legislative alignment.
“This also involves what always scares us the most – how to prove that what we are doing is indeed being implemented,” she said.
Miščević stated that in 2025, Serbia would focus on proving that it has met the interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24.
She highlighted the importance of the Growth Plan and the Reform Agenda in accelerating Serbia’s European integration process.
According to her, the coming year will “be very challenging” in terms of accelerating Serbia’s European integration.
“This is not just about making plans, which we are working on, but also proving that we are keeping pace in the negotiation process and the reform process. All of this needs to be properly presented to the Member States,” she stressed.
Miščević pointed out key challenges in accelerating the European integration process.
She noted the growing importance of national parliaments and the significance of procedures within those parliaments.
Miščević also identified “potentially significant bilateral issues” as a key challenge.
According to her, under the new methodology, a candidate state cannot progress toward EU membership without resolving bilateral issues.
“I am referring to potential bilateral issues we have faced recently, which we could resolve immediately, as well as identifying those that might arise in later negotiation phases,” she said.
Miščević stated that the negotiation process was “naturally, legitimately, and logically used for an EU Member State to resolve problematic points with a candidate country.”
She expressed confidence that no Member State would miss the opportunity to do so with any candidate country.
“The earlier we know what the potential challenges and problems are, the sooner we can address them technically and politically,” Miščević added, noting that the challenges also included new knowledge and understanding of EU law.
Miščević concluded by saying that Serbia was ready to assist countries in the region in the European integration process, as well as new candidates.
Source: FoNet
