EU Sources: Serbia Will Not Open New Chapter in Negotiations This Year

European Commision

The EU will not open a single new chapter in negotiations on membership with Serbia before the year ends, because several EU members believe that, despite their promises, the Belgrade authorities have not conducted essential reforms in the keys areas of rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression, sources in Brussels told BETA on Dec. 3.

These sources in the European Commission and in the Council of the  EU explained to BETA that the latest debates ahead of top-level EU meetings showed that "there is no chance of a decision on opening at least one new chapter, which was earlier believed possible."

The European diplomatic sources pointed to the fact that a draft conclusion which is supposed to adopted by the EU's foreign ministers at a meeting scheduled for next week says that, where Serbia is concerned," The Council of the EU regrets that progress in the rule of law has not been as fast or efficient as expected from a country leading negotiations and calls on Serbia to demonstrate a political will, significantly speed up reforms and offer concrete and tangible results in this and other fundamental areas."

These officials also said that this did not in any way mean that the EU was pulling the breaks on support for the Western Balkans on the road to integration with Europe, but that there were voices saying that it was better to wait a little and get a more quality basis for further progress.