Serbia submitted its application for EU membership in December 2009 and was granted candidate status in March 2012 after Belgrade and Pristina reached an agreement on Kosovo’s regional representation. Accession negotiations were formally opened on 21 January 2014. The first two chapters, including the one on normalisation of relations with Kosovo, were opened in December 2015. The key rule of law Chapters 23 and 24 were opened on 18 July 2016. To date, 18 out of 35 negotiating chapters have been opened, two of which have been provisionally closed. Since December 2019, no new chapters have been opened. In its

 

Western Balkans Strategy, published in February 2018, the Commission stated that Serbia (and Montenegro) could join the EU by 2025, albeit acknowledging that this perspective was ‘extremely ambitious’. Serbia’s future EU integration – like Kosovo’s – remains closely linked to the EU-facilitated high-level dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, which should lead to a legally binding comprehensive agreement on the normalisation of their relations. The latest high-level dialogue meeting took place on 15 June 2021.

(Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu)  

 

Montenegro, which gained independence in 2006, applied for EU membership in December 2008. It was granted candidate status in December 2010 and accession negotiations were opened in June 2012. In line with the EU’s ‘new approach’ to the accession process, the crucial rule of law chapters – Chapter 23 on judicial reform and fundamental rights and Chapter 24 on freedom, security and justice – were opened at an early stage in the negotiations, in December 2013. To date, all 33 screened negotiating chapters have been opened, of which only three have been provisionally closed. The last remaining key chapter (on competition policy) was opened in June 2020. In its Western Balkans Strategy, published in February 2018, the Commission stated that Montenegro (and Serbia) could join the EU by 2025, albeit acknowledging that this perspective was ‘extremely ambitious’. (Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu) 

 

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a potential candidate country. An SAA was negotiated and signed in June 2008 but its entry into force was frozen, mainly owing to the country’s failure to implement a key ruling of the European Court of Human Rights. The EU’s ‘renewed approach’ to the country, which put more focus on economic governance, allowed the long overdue entry into force of the SAA on 1 June 2015. The country submitted its membership application on 15 February 2016. In May 2019, the Commission published its opinion, including a list of 14 key priorities for BiH, on the basis of BiH’s replies to a comprehensive questionnaire. One of the 14 key priorities is ensuring the proper functioning of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC), the parliamentary dimension of the SAA. In July 2020, almost five years after the first and, so far, only SAPC meeting in November 2015, the BiH Parliament voted on the SAPC’s Rules of Procedure, thereby paving the way for their formal adoption by the SAPC in June 2021. (Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu) 

 

 

The Republic of North Macedonia applied for EU membership in March 2004 and was granted EU candidate status in December 2005. However, the country was unable to open accession negotiations for many years, mainly owing to the dispute with Greece over the country’s use of the name ‘Macedonia’. This dispute was successfully resolved through the ‘Prespa Agreement’ on the country’s new name – Republic of North Macedonia or North Macedonia – which entered into force in February 2019. Since 2009, the Commission, with the unwavering support of Parliament, had invariably recommended that accession negotiations be opened. In June 2018, the Council agreed to the possible opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia in June 2019, provided the necessary conditions were fulfilled. However, in both June 2019 and October 2019, the Council failed to greenlight the opening of accession negotiations. In March 2020, the Council decided to open accession negotiations without additional conditionality. In July 2020, the Commission presented the draft negotiating framework – the first to take into account the ‘revised methodology for enlargement to the Western Balkans’ – to the Member States. Almost one year later, accession negotiations with North Macedonia – and Albania – have not yet been opened. This is mainly due to issues between North Macedonia and Bulgaria related to identity, language and history. (Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu) 

 

 

Kosovo is a potential candidate for EU accession. It unilaterally declared its independence in February 2008. Five EU Member States (Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain) and two countries in the region (Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) have not recognised Kosovo’s independence. In July 2018, six years after a visa liberalisation roadmap was issued, the Commission confirmed that Kosovo had fulfilled all the criteria. The European Parliament immediately followed suit and entered into interinstitutional negotiations, which are ongoing. In the region, only Kosovo remains excluded from visa liberalisation, as some EU Member States continue to have reservations. After a landmark agreement on normalising relations was reached in April 2013 by Belgrade and Pristina (the ‘Brussels Agreement’), the European Council decided in June 2013 to open negotiations on an SAA with Kosovo, which entered into force on 1 April 2016. Kosovo’s future EU integration – like Serbia’s – remains closely linked to the EU-facilitated high-level dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which should lead to a legally binding comprehensive agreement on the normalisation of their relations. The latest high-level dialogue meeting took place on 15 June 2021. (Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu)