EC: No Debate in Serbian Parliament, Judiciary and Media Face Obstruction

European Commission building (BETAPHOTO/EK/Lukasz Kobus)

The European Commission (EC) said in its Rule of Law Report on Serbia on July 17 that the judiciary and prosecution are facing political pressure, while concerns have grown over attempts to exert undue influence on the Office of the Prosecutor for Organized Crime. The Commission also cautioned that media legislation is not being adequately enforced and that electoral reform and an audit of electoral rolls have yet to be fully implemented.

In its 7th annual Rule of Law Report, the EC assesses developments in the area across the European Union (EU), as well as in four candidate countries - Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania. The Commission reviewed the state of the rule of law in their justice systems, anti-corruption frameworks, the areas of media pluralism and media freedoms, as well as institutional checks and balances.

The Commission said in its report that the efficiency of Serbia’s judiciary in civil and commercial cases remains stable, but noted a negative trend in criminal cases, serious challenges in handling administrative cases and a failure to address problems related to constitutional complaints. Legal amendments in Serbia removed some of the existing safeguards protecting prosecutorial autonomy and judicial independence, hampering the implementation of the 2023 constitutional reform, the EC warned.

Regarding the freedom of the media and pluralism, the Commission said Serbia’s audiovisual market continues to face serious challenges because a functioning decision-making body, in this case the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM), is still not in place. The report also cited concerns over the editorial autonomy and pluralism of public service broadcasters, saying that the further concentration of the media market and political and economic influence over the media remain matters of serious concern.