Accession of Serbia to the European Union

The accession of Serbia to the European Union (EU) has been on the current agenda for the future enlargement of the EU since 2012, when it became a candidate for accession. Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009. Accession negotiations are currently ongoing. Serbia is expected to complete its negotiations by the end of 2024, allowing it to join the Union by 2025.
Until 2020, Serbia had been receiving €2.9bn of developmental aid from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries. It is one of five current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Turkey.
Identification, Recommendation, and Candidacy.
Negotiations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro) intensified following the election defeat and ousting of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, and the EU officially declared the Balkan states potential candidates for membership following the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki on 21 June 2003.
On 7 November 2007, Serbia initiated a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union. The European Commission recommended making Serbia an official candidate on 12 October 2011. After the Council's recommendation of 28 February 2012, Serbia received full candidate status on 1 March. In December 2013, the Council of the European Union approved opening negotiations for Serbia's accession.
Chronology of relations with the EU.
Visa liberalisation process.
On 1 January 2008, the Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreement between Serbia and the EU came into effect. On 19 December 2009, Visa requirements were lifted for Serbs travelling to Schengen countries.
Serbia and Kosovo.
The biggest obstacle between Serbia's accession to the EU is its strained relationship with Kosovo, which declared its independence on 17 February 2008.
The Serbian government has declared that the status of Kosovo should not be tied with the EU negotiations. In September 2012, the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Štefan Füle, denied that the European Union would insist on Serbia's recognition of Kosovo before it can join the organisation.
On 19 April 2013, the governments of Kosovo and Serbia completed the Brussels Agreement, which was hailed as a major step towards normalising relations and enabled the start of EU accession talks with Serbia. On 22 April 2013, the European Commission recommended the start of EU entry talks with Serbia.
In November 2013, Kosovo's Minister of Foreign Affairs Enver Hoxhaj suggested that the EU should approve the accession of Kosovo and Serbia simultaneously due to concerns that if Serbia was admitted first they could veto Kosovo's membership. However, Serbia's accession negotiations were not halted.
In March 2021, the European Parliament adopted a report on Serbia, which, amongst other things, emphasized that the normalization of relationships between Serbia and Kosovo is “a priority and a requirement for EU accession”.
Negotiation progress.
In 2020, the President of Serbia said that the country is in favor of a new method for EU negotiations. The new method will likely come to effect in early 2021, with Serbia possibly being able to open 2 out of 3 clusters in 2021.
Public opinion.
The results of opinion polling vary drastically depending on the question asked. An August 2017 poll recorded that 51.2% were in favour of joining the EU, 36.3% were against and 12.5% undecided. However, the same poll also asked: "if recognising the independence of Kosovo were a condition of joining the EU, do you think that condition should be accepted?", to which 12.1% answered yes, 70.6% no and 17.3% were undecided.