USING CANDIDACY TO ENTICE FURTHER REFORM
USING CANDIDACY TO ENTICE FURTHER REFORM

Author(s): Natan Albahari
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development
Published by: ISAC - Centar za međunarodne i bezbednosne poslove
Keywords: EU enlargement; Serbia EU candidacy; European integration; Copenhagen Criteria; Kosovo dialogue; Accession negotiations
Summary/Abstract: On December 12, 2011, the European Council delayed granting Serbia the status of candidate country until the next meeting of March 2012. This was contrary to the opinion of the European Commission, which had recommended that Serbia be granted candidacy status and even proposed setting a date for the start of accession negotiations if Serbia made further progress regarding Kosovo. Due to specific events which took place between the issuing of the Commission’s opinion and the European Council’s decision, a unanimous decision on Serbia’s candidacy status was not possible. Such a decision is disappointing as Serbia has in fact made considerable progress towards meeting the Copenhagen Criteria, which was recognised by the Commission. This paper will briefly explore why this was a wrong decision within the context of the overall enlargement strategy, particularly within the framework of enticing reform in an aspiring EU state, in this case Serbia.

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