Minister for European Integration Tanja Miščević stated today, 10 years since the actual start of the EU membership negotiation process, that the most vivid illustration of Serbia’s alignment with EU law is the progress in trade relations. In an op-ed for Blic, she emphasized that in 2014, Serbia had a trade exchange worth 16.6 billion euros with EU member states, with exports amounting to 7.2 billion euros.
Today, the total exchange is around 36 billion euros, and Serbian exports to the EU amount to 16.7 billion euros.
“Ten years later, it is clear that, in addition to our economy being oriented towards the EU, the Union is also our largest development partner,” Miščević pointed out. She highlighted that all domestic technical regulations are harmonized with EU legislation.
“That actually means that there are no longer any obstacles, especially technical ones, in trade with the Union for many products, whether we export or import them,” Miščević explained.
The minister emphasized that Serbia has received two billion euros in non-refundable funds from the EU in the past decade. “We used it to support the economy and agriculture, to renovate schools and hospitals, to build or reconstruct roads, railways, bridges, for better energy supply, for more efficient public administration. Additionally, since 2014, donations totaling over 630 million euros have been secured for the improvement of transportation, energy, health, and communication infrastructure,” Miščević noted.
According to her, the results of ongoing projects will be visible to citizens throughout Serbia. “Let me mention just those in the field of energy: the wind park in Kostolac, hydroelectric power plants in Vlasina and Bistrica, new kilometers of railway from Belgrade to Niš,” Miščević explained.
As she stated, Serbia has participated in many EU programs, even as a full member, with the most successful example being Erasmus Plus. “Erasmus Plus is a program that has so far allowed more than 16,000 of our young people to take the opportunity to temporarily study and gain experience abroad. At the same time, academic institutions in Serbia have attracted over 4,300 young people, students, and teachers from Europe,” Miščević emphasized.
She highlighted that the issue of alignment with the EU’s common foreign policy has become crucial for Serbia. “Along with, of course, the issue of the dialogue we are conducting with Pristina, which Belgrade cannot speed up on its own by doing more than it already does, fulfilling its obligations.
But actually, the biggest challenge and the key motivation of this entire process is to show, explain, prove primarily to the citizens that our place is in the community of European nations, to which we belong, primarily in terms of values, and we all still have a lot to do in that regard,” stated Miščević.
Sign up for business updates & specials
