BELGRADE – Representatives of civil society organizations held the first meeting of the intersectoral working group of the National Convention on the EU (NKEU) on Wednesday, which will monitor the implementation of measures outlined in Serbia’s Reform Agenda over the next three years.
NKEU is an alliance gathering more than 850 civil society organizations, with the aim of monitoring and participating in Serbia’s EU accession process.
The government adopted the Reform Agenda in early October last year for the period from 2024 to 2027. This document includes 98 reform steps, with specific deadlines, and the implementation of these measures will determine the disbursement of 1.58 billion euros allocated to Serbia under the European Union’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
For the first set of measures, which include the election of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media and the revision of the voter register, the initial deadline has been extended from the end of December 2024 to the end of February 2025 due to delays in adopting the Reform Agendas of countries in the region.
The NKEU intersectoral working group will monitor which obligations from the Reform Agenda are being implemented and within which deadlines, as well as whether the implemented reforms lead to improvements and practical progress.
At the initial meeting, the analysis by the European Policy Centre (CEP), which leads the work of this intersectoral group, was presented. The analysis covered the process of preparing and adopting the Reform Agenda, its content, and the institutional mechanisms for its implementation.
During the meeting, representatives of civil society organizations shared their views on the measures in the Reform Agenda, which covers four areas: business environment and private sector development, green and digital transition, human capital, fundamental rights, and the rule of law. The implementation of measures in each of these four areas will be monitored by specialized civil society organizations within the intersectoral working group.
It was noted that the process related to the preparation of the Reform Agenda so far had not been inclusive, as negotiations between the European Commission and Serbian authorities were held behind closed doors, with minimal public insight. This is why it is considered important for civil society to play a role in monitoring the implementation of reforms.
The meeting also discussed comparing the region’s Reform Agendas. Five out of six Reform Agendas have been adopted so far, and Bosnia and Herzegovina is still in the process of the adoption of this document. It was stated that the fulfillment of common elements across all documents, such as reforms of state and public enterprises, will be compared, but the comparability is limited because different countries in the region have focused on different priorities in their Reform Agendas.
The first meeting of the intersectoral working group was organized within the project “Pathways to EU Integration,” which is implemented across the Western Balkans, with the goal of strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations to monitor and advocate for reforms related to the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. Through systematic monitoring of the implementation of the Reform Agendas, policy analysis, and advocacy through national and regional dialogues, the project enhances the transparency of the EU integration process and strengthens the role of civil society in monitoring the implementation of key reforms. The project is implemented by members of the Think for Europe network, with support from the Open Society Foundation for the Western Balkans. The European Western Balkans portal is the media partner of the project.