Serbia gets OK for membership talks with EU

March 11, 2020 / By mobanmarket

Serbia gets OK for membership talks with EU

EU leaders agree to begin talks in January if relations with Kosovo advance.

EU spells out expectations for Serbia

The leaders of the European Union’s member states today approved opening negotiations with Serbia on the country’s application to join the Union.  

Although most member states were happy for the first formal negotiations to start in October, the leaders bowed to the insistence of Germany that they should be delayed at least until January.

The decision was taken just days before Croatia, Serbia’s main regional rival, will join the Union after eight years of tough membership negotiations.  

“We are at a historic moment for the Balkans and for Europe as a whole,” said Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council. “Not only are we welcoming Croatia as a new member state, we have also agreed to open accession negotiations with Serbia and taken a key step in our relations with Kosovo.”  

The EU’s green light comes after Serbia agreed in April to normalise relations with Kosovo, its former province. “These last two decisions are an immediate result of the courageous agreement Belgrade and Pristina reached last April,” Van Rompuy said.  

The EU will also start talks with Kosovo on a pre-accession stabilisation and association agreement, a first step on the way to eventual membership.  

There is a level of ambiguity about whether EU leaders will be asked to return to the issue of whether Serbia is making progress in implementing the April agreement. A reference to such a confirmation was dropped from the final summit statement. But Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, told reporters after today’s summit: “The December European Council will discuss Serbia and confirm that implementation [of the normalisation deal with Kosovo] has progressed.”  

The European Commission is now free to start preparatory consultations with Serbia about the negotiations, identifying areas of Serbia’s legislation that will have to be adapted to EU law.