Arrests put Serbia on path to EU candidacy, despite weak corruption reforms
LONDON (TrustLaw) - Serbia has made little progress in fighting corruption but may become an EU candidate state nonetheless when the European Commission (EC) decides on enlargement next month, analysts say.
Both Serbia and Albania applied for EU membership in 2009, but the EC told them in November last year they were not ready for official candidate status, with endemic corruption highlighted as a significant issue in both countries. The EC is expected to announce next month whether the two South East European countries have met sufficient conditions in the past year to receive candidate status.
“Serbia has not made concrete progress in the fight against corruption, but if the European Commission assesses only the formal steps, as the Serbian government expects them to do, then it is possible that Serbia will get EU membership candidate country status next month,” Verica Barac, president of the Anti-Corruption Council of Serbia, told TrustLaw.
The EC’s November report on Serbia’s candidacy was highly critical. It labelled controls on the funding of political parties and campaign spending as “very weak” and said public procurement, privatisation and public expenditure remain “areas of concern”.
Despite this, a significant obstacle to Serbia’s membership of the EU was removed this year when Belgrade arrested former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic in May and former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic in July. Both were wanted by the U.N.’s Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal in The Hague, and the EC had made their arrests a condition for EU membership.
“This was a hugely symbolic move on the side of the Serbian authorities, and will be matched by a symbolic move from the EU in kind,” said Mujtaba Rahman, Europe analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “There are many other levers that the EU can bring to bear over the remaining accession process to address outstanding corruption concerns.”
ALBANIA’S POLITICAL IMPASSE
Albania, on the other hand, is not expected to receive candidate status this year. Its parliament has been in a state of near-paralysis since disputed elections in 2009 because most legislation requires a qualified majority and neither of the two main parties is prepared to support bills introduced by the other.
Articles 6 and 49 of the Treaty on European Union state that a European country wanting to join the EU club must respect the principles of “liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law”.
In practice, the EC requires that a series of laws and standards be implemented to ensure consistency and compatibility with the EU’s structure.
In the EC’s November opinion on Albania’s application for EU candidacy, it called on Albania to implement a number of reforms, including rolling out an extensive anti-graft plan and facilitating the prosecution of lawmakers and judges.
“Many needed reforms have been blocked and many important laws have not been adopted by the Albanian parliament. So we are not really sure about how the procedure will go with the European Commission, but we may say that the situation is not in our favour,” said Inesa Hila, project coordinator at Transparency International Albania.
KOSOVO STICKING POINT
While Serbia seems likely to become an EU candidate country sooner, its road to membership still looks rather bumpy.
EU diplomats told Reuters this week that the EC wants to offer Serbia the status of EU membership candidate in October, but will recommend entry talks are postponed until Belgrade improves its troubled relations with Kosovo.
“I think (Serbia) will get the carrot of candidacy but not a start date for negotiations, and I think the major focus on Serbia is the normalisation of relations with Kosovo,” said Zachary Rothstein, analyst for Central and Eastern Europe at political risk consultancy Control Risks.
Kosovo, a new state of about 1.7 million mostly ethnic Albanians, has been recognised by more than 80 countries, including the United States and most of the EU, since 2008.
But northern Kosovo, a predominantly Serb region with a population of about 60,000, has so far refused to recognise Pristina as its capital and pledges allegiance to Serbia. The rest of Kosovo's 120,000 Serbs live in enclaves in Kosovo proper.
Serbia cherishes Kosovo as its historic heartland, and most of its medieval monasteries and churches are located there. It lost control over Kosovo in 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign halted a Serb counter-insurgency war against ethnic Albanian rebels.
Serbia and Kosovo cancelled the latest round of EU-mediated talks in Brussels on Wednesday because the Belgrade delegation opposed the planned agenda, Reuters reported.
“I think (tackling) corruption is a big part of (Serbia’s candidacy) - and will be a bigger part as Serbia progresses towards EU integration - but I think corruption for Serbia at this point is secondary to resolving the Kosovo issue,” Rothstein said.
Any delays in Serbian and Albanian membership could serve the interests of powerful business people in those countries, noted Eric Gordy, a politics lecturer at the University College London School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies.
“(They) are monopolists to a privileged position that is guaranteed by politics in the region. They know they couldn’t maintain it if they had to compete with businesses in the EU,” he told TrustLaw. “So in that sense, just getting the public interest represented also means dealing with corruption.”
(Editing by Megan Rowling)
-----
FACTBOX - Corruption in Serbia and Albania
Q+A - What will determine whether Serbia, Albania join EU?
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
