Von Beckerath: EC report not criticism but blueprint, sky is limit for Serbia if there is will

BELGRADE - The head of the EU Delegation to Belgrade Andreas von Beckerath says the latest European Commission (EC) report on Serbia's progress on the path to EU membership is not criticism but a blueprint for accelerating reforms, and noted that, despite some headway, the progress has not been quick enough, but that, if there is political will, the sky is the limit for Serbia.

"There are no shortcuts to EU membership, but there are also no speed limits. So basically, if there is political will and strong reforms, the sky is the limit for Serbia. You can move ahead very, very quickly, but there need to be concrete reforms, and you need to deliver on the challenges addressed in the report," von Beckerath told Tanjug in an interview.

"In the report, the Commission again reiterated that the technical conditions (for opening Cluster 3 in Serbia's accession talks) have been met. The next step is for all 27 member states to give the green light to open Cluster 3. They will make that assessment not least based on how well Serbia implements rule of law reforms and, here, Serbia has committed to implement the reform when it comes to the REM Council and the unified voter register," he said.

"You have not concluded those processes yet, but we are near, but it is not enough to adopt those laws - they need to be implemented as well. There needs to be real change," he added.

"Furthermore, the member states will also look at other commitments Serbia has made including when it comes to energy, the gas unbundling, but also when it comes to the alignment with the common foreign and security policy and, again, also progress in the high-level dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. I think if Serbia delivers on all of these commitments, I certainly hope that there could be progress when it comes to Cluster 3."

"The whole point of this report is not to present a list of criticisms - it is to present you with a blueprint, a road map for how you can accelerate the reforms in order to make progress on the road to EU membership. I certainly think it is objective. The whole enlargement process is based on evidence and objective facts," von Beckerath also said.

"When it comes to the positive parts, for example in the economic criteria, there are some areas where Serbia has made progress, also, it (the report) mentions the recent progress when it comes to the REM Council and the law on the unified voter register," he said.

However, the report says there has been "a significant slowdown of reforms during this period of the report, and it calls on Serbia to implement credible reforms across the board," von Beckerath noted.

"It clearly mentions that there has been a standstill in the field of judiciary and fundamental rights, and it calls on Serbia to urgently reverse the backsliding, as we call it - a negative trend - when it comes to freedom of expression, and also to address the erosion of academic freedom," he said.

Furthermore, the report calls on Serbia to "change and improve" the communication on the "benefits of EU accession and EU membership," von Beckerath said, adding that the document noted the importance of stronger alignment with the EU common foreign and security policy and progress on the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.