Tenth meeting of Stabilisation, Association Committee between EU, Serbia held

Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević and Head of the Unit for Montenegro and Serbia in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission Jiri Plecity co-chaired the 10th annual meeting of the Stabilisation and Association Committee between the EU and Serbia today in Belgrade.

The statement from the Ministry of European Integration states that this committee is the highest joint administrative and technical body of the European Union and Serbia, established by the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, to monitor its implementation, as well as our country's accession negotiations with the EU.

The meeting discussed all the recommendations from the European Commission's Report on Serbia for 2024, as well as what has already been done since that report to implement them.

The topic of the meeting was also the beginning of the implementation of the Reform Agenda of the Republic of Serbia, a comprehensive document containing 98 reform steps to which our country has committed itself in order to further accelerate Serbia's accession to the European Union.

Also, the activities that the Government is undertaking in order to meet all the set criteria for EU membership by 2026 were discussed.

It was noted that the European Commission this year reiterated its assessment that Serbia has met the criteria for opening Cluster 3 (Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth) and that it is working on opening other clusters, while improving the rule of law and fundamental rights, as well as on normalising relations with Priština and strengthening regional cooperation.

On that occasion, the importance of further harmonisation with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy was emphasised.

The meeting also looked at progress in meeting the economic criteria and the implementation of the EU pre-accession funds, namely IPA 3, through which Serbia was provided with €4 billion of EU support from 2014 to 2023.

The preparations for the use of €1.6 billion from the Western Balkans Growth Plan intended for Serbia, as well as the ratification process of two agreements - on the Financial Instrument and on the Growth Plan loan, were also discussed.