EU report on Serbia significantly sharper and more extensive than draft

A final version of a European Parliament committee report on Serbia's path to European Union membership is considerably more critical and detailed than its initial draft, according to insights obtained by N1.

The report from the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) maintains the core assessment that Serbia's progress toward EU accession has stalled. It highlights key deficiencies in democracy, the rule of law, media freedoms, electoral conditions, and relations with Kosovo. However, following the incorporation of compromise amendments, the report now includes a range of new criticisms, specific events, and more precise demands directed at both Serbian authorities and the European Commission.

Instead of softening its stance, the revised report intensifies its criticisms. It emphasizes that the EU accession process is merit-based but also "reversible." Serbia is urged not only to adopt reforms but also to fully implement them, with the report noting that the gap between legislative alignment and actual application continues to undermine progress. It states that Serbia has made limited or no progress in meeting membership criteria across many negotiation chapters, and obligations from a November 2024 non-paper related to opening Cluster 3 remain largely unfulfilled.

The report also calls for any significant backsliding by Serbia on its EU trajectory to be reflected in the pace and scale of financial assistance provided by the EU. In the section on democracy, the finalized text notes a deepening political crisis in Serbia, linked to widespread protests that began in November 2024. These protests are described as citizen and student reactions to systemic corruption and a perceived lack of accountability and transparency.

Furthermore, the report significantly expands its section on elections. Beyond calls for free and fair elections and full implementation of ODIHR recommendations, it addresses the need to halt voter pressure, intimidation, and vote-buying. It also calls for preventing the misuse of public and administrative resources, ensuring equal conditions for political actors, and ending impunity for electoral irregularities. The report specifically condemns the atmosphere during local elections held on March 29, 2026, in ten municipalities, citing incidents of violence, threats, attacks on journalists, students, activists, and observers, as well as issues like parallel voter lists and vote-buying.