RELATIONS WITH THE EU
The European Union and Serbia
During the Thessaloniki European Council in 2003, Serbia was identified as a potential candidate for EU membership.
In December 2009, the visa liberalisation regime allowed Serbian citizens to travel within the Schengen area without a visa. Just a couple of days later, President Tadic delivered to the Swedish presidency Serbia’s application for membership to the EU. In March 2012 Serbia was granted EU candidate status. To date, Serbia has opened 18 negotiation chapters and provisionally closed 2.
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Political Relations
European Integration Process using new methodology
At the Thessaloniki European Council summit, the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) was confirmed as EU policy for the Western Balkan. The process was officially opened by the European Council in October of 2004. Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia was signed in 2008.
In 2012, European Council confirmed Serbia as a candidate country, and a year later endorsed the Commission’s recommendation to open negotiations with Serbia. In 2013, the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Agreement entered into force.
The first EU-Serbia Intergovernmental Conference was held in January of 2014, while in 2015, the first two of 35 negotiating chapters were opened. As of 2020, 18 negotiating chapters were opened, and Serbian authorities have announced that the process will continue using the new methodology agreed upon at the beginning of that year.
In 2018, The European Commission adopted a strategy for ‘A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans’. Following this strategy, two summits were held on this topic, during the Presidencies of Bulgaria in 2018 and Croatia in 2020.
Financial Relations
EU Assistance helping Serbia's reforms
With more than EUR3 billion in non-refundable aid over the past two decades, the European Union is the biggest donor in Serbia and the country’s number one partner in supporting the development and ongoing reforms.
The history of the partnership dates back to March 2001 through CARDS or Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation Programme. In 2006, the CARDS Programme was replaced by the Instrument for Pre-accession (IPA) which ran until 2013. The IPA was followed by the IPA II which will bring Serbia EUR1.5 billion in grants in the period from 2014-2020 (some EUR200 million per year). The IPA II Programme is focused on the key areas which should facilitate Serbia’s preparation for its membership in the European Union.
The EU approved assistance worth 93 million euros to Serbia in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the EU role was very important in mitigating the consequences of the 2014 floods. Serbia is the largest recipient of EU donations in the Western Balkans and one of the largest in the world.
Trade
Serbian producers exporting duty-free to the EU since 2000
Serbia has substantially benefited from trade and economic integration with the EU. The EU is traditionally Serbia’s key trading partner accounting for nearly 65% of Serbia’s total exports and around 64% of Serbia’s total imports of goods in 2019, with similar percentages persisting over the years. The value of Serbian exports to the EU more than tripled from nearly EUR 3.4 billion in 2009 to almost EUR 11.3 billion in 2019.
Serbia’s exports to the EU have been growing faster than imports from the EU. Furthermore, the coverage of imports by exports on the Serbian side vis-à-vis the EU has been improving; from below 50% in 2009 to over 74% in 2019 (74.3% of imports from the EU were covered by Serbian exports to the EU).
Individual EUMSs traditionally top the list of Serbia’s most important trade partners in goods, notably Italy and Germany, but also Romania as an important export destination, and Hungary as an important country of origin for Serbian imports. Serbia exported almost 19% of total exports to Italy alone and another 15.1% to Germany in 2019. On the import side, Serbia imported more than 22% of all imports from Germany, with Italy following at 14.9%.