REPORT: Serbia's road to EU membership: Challenges and Opportunities?

Titled Serbia's road to EU membership: Challenges and Opportunities, Ms. Miščević’s presentation explored three major areas defining the current stage of Serbia’s accession to the EU: Why now and why so late; No business as usual; Where are we now and what to expect.

The lecture was opened with questions about the timing of Serbia’s accessions talks, particularly with questions of why the talks are taking place now and why have they been initiated so late. Ms. Miščević concluded that as Serbia has been facing various political issues, such as its problematic relations with Montenegro and Kosovo, the negotiations have previously froze, leaving Serbia’s road to EU membership rather stagnant.

The second part of the lecture was dominated by the notion that Serbia’s accession process is no business as usual. Ms. Miščević argued that the policy for accessing new members to the EU has undergone profound changes since Croatia’s entry. For instance, the introduction of benchmarking or various other technical novelties have placed Serbia in a considerably more difficult negotiating position, and thus hindering its faster entry.

Finally, the lecture sought to explore the questions of where does Serbia stand right now, as well as what is to be expected, given the main challenges Serbia is currently facing. Ms. Miščević has delivered her closing remarks for the session by stating that although, there have been positive developments towards European integration in each and every country of the Western Balkans, Serbia continues to face problems and challenges posed by both the internal disputes over Kosovo’s status, as well as its ‘tough’ reform process, particularly the rule of law reforms and the reforms accompanying the rule of law.

Pictures from the event are also available on Facebook.