PRIDRUŽIVANJE SRBIJE I CRNE GORE EVROPSKOJ UNIJI
ASSOCIATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGRO TO EUROPEAN UNION

Summary/Abstract: Despite the stated legal conditions, admission to the European Union ultimately depends on the discretionary, unanimous decision of its members. A candidate who meets all the required conditions is not accepted automatically. The member states consider the positive and negative aspects of the new enlargement, i.e. its economic and political consequences. It is certain, for example, that the economic development and political stability of Austria, Finland and Sweden was a decisive element for the acceptance of their candidacies in the short term, given that countries with coherent political and economic systems join the European Union. In any case, the Union has a positive attitude towards future candidates, because its goal is not the destruction of the national economy, but its development to the extent that it requires inclusion in the European market. Otherwise, there would be structural disruptions, a strong wave of immigration from an endangered country, as well as a drop in the standards of its population. In this sense, some less developed states of the Union (Greece, Spain and Portugal) were in the so-called a transitional period that lasted from five to ten years, so that certain national economic branches would continue to enjoy customs protection (automotive and textile industries of Spain) or so that the developed states of the Union would be protected from excessive immigration from these countries. It is not excluded that Serbia and Montenegro will also be under this regime. The accession of Serbia and Montenegro to the European Union is an issue that requires a strategic approach, i.e. a precise plan and program of inclusion in the European integration processes, which would provide the deadlines for adapting the Yugoslav economy to the regulations and standards of the Union, as well as the final deadline for its admission to the Union. A realistic assessment is that Serbia and Montenegro would need eight to ten years to fully fulfill all the required requirements. The Government of the Republic of Serbia is planning an accelerated pace of economic and social reforms that would enable our country to obtain the status of an official candidate for admission to the Union in 2003 and eventually become a member of the Union before some countries that should join the Union in the so-called second round since 2008.

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