New prEUgovor Alarm Report: State of Rule of Law in Serbia

The prEUgovor coalition will present its latest Alarm - report on Serbia’s progress in implementation of policies in the areas covered by chapters 23 (Judiciary & Fundamental Rights) and 24 (Justice, Freedom & Security) of the EU accession negotiations on 24 October 2019 at 11h, at the Media Centre (first floor, Terazije 3, Belgrade).

In the context of the new composition of European Parliament and European Commission, engagement of the European Parliament in mediating the dialogue on election conditions in Serbia, as well as introduction of new EU mechanisms for strengthening the Rule of Law in Member States, in the new Alarm report prEUgovor Coalition analyses effects of the reforms in the Rule of law in Serbia in the period from April to September 2019.

In its last report for Serbia the outgoing European Commission had pointed more directly to the lack of credible results regarding the Rule of Law, fundamental rights and democracy in the country. The next semi-annual non-paper of the Commission on state of play in Chapters 23 and 24 in Serbia is expected in November.

The prEUgovor Alarm’s findings point to the fact that Serbia is not doing enough in order to make progress in priority areas. The lack of dialogue in democratic institutions, primarily in the National Assembly, in the media and society in general challenges the meaning of reform efforts. Therefore, the key question that will be addressed at the conference is what needs to be done in order to improve the Rule of Law in Serbia, especially when considering lack of positive impact of the ongoing reforms, as reported in prEUgovor Alarms.

Speakers at the conference:

  • Nemanja Nenadić, Transparency Serbia
  • Vanja Macanović, Autonomous Women’s Centre
  • Saša Đorđević, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
  • Moderator: Sonja Stojanović Gajić, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

Translation to English will be provided. Please confirm your attendance no later than Wednesday, 23 October, by e-mail to [email protected] or by phone +381 11 3287 226.

In the meantime, Serbian Government has continued the process of revision of action plans for these two chapters, with the goal to fulfil conditions for membership before 2023. Ahead of the spring parliamentary elections, constitutional amendments in the area of judiciary and top strategic documents in the area of national security are, inter alia, in the parliamentary procedure.

 

The event is a part of project "prEUgovor Policy Watch: Monitoring Reforms in Chapters 23 and 24" funded by the European Union. 

About prEUgovor

Coalition prEUgovor is a network of civil society organisations formed in order to monitor the implementation of policies relating to the accession negotiations between Serbia and the EU, with an emphasis on Chapters 23 and 24 of the Acquis. In doing so, the coalition aims to use the EU integration process to help accomplish substantial progress in the further democratisation of the Serbian society.

Members of the coalition are: ASTRA - Anti-Trafficking Action, Autonomous Women’s Centre (AWC), Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), Centre for Investigative Journalism in Serbia (CINS), Centre for Applied European Studies (CPES), Group 484 and Transparency Serbia (TS).

Follow prEUgovor activities on the official website, Facebook page and Twitter account.