Serbia Submits EU Candidacy Application

Boris Tadic and Fredrik Reinfeldt in Stockholm

"In the name of the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, we have the honor to apply for membership in the EU," the document which Tadic gave to Reinfeldt says.

As he submitted the application, Tadic said that Serbia will fulfill all the requirements in the next few years in order to become a full member of the bloc. The two officials agreed that this is a historic moment for Serbia.

"The path to membership is long and will require major reforms, but Serbia will fulfill it all for the membership," Reinfeldt said at a press conference after the ceremony.

The ceremony in Stockholm was also attended by European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and a Serbian government delegation which included Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, Director of the Office of the Government of Serbia for European Integration Milica Delevic, Serbian Ambassador to the EU Roksanda Nincic and Serbian Ambassador to Stockholm Ninoslav Stojadinovic.

The decision came after Tadic and the country's Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic signed a request on Saturday night, in the name of the government, for EU candidacy.

Serbia’s path to candidacy was eased on December 7 when EU foreign ministers agreed to unblock Serbia's interim trade agreement, which is part of Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA.

Sonja Liht, who is President of the Foreign Policy Council of the Serbian Foreign Ministry, told Balkan Insight that this is a big day for Serbia. "This is a very important move not only for Serbia but for the Balkans as a whole since the EU is interested in how the situation goes in the entire region," Liht said.

She said that the timing for the submission of the candidacy application was very good and that it came after serious analysis and consultations. She added that it was indirectly tied to the visa liberalisation that came into force on December 19, 2009.

The status of candidate for membership is one step in the process of EU accession and it follows the entry into effect of the SAA. Ratification of the SAA by the EU member states is expected to happen before summer.

Economic analyst Vladimir Todoric told Balkan Insight that there is no official rule in the European Union under which candidacy must be tied to the ratification of the SAA.

Liht says that ratification of the SAA doesn't postpone its implementation but rather goes along with it.

The application will be placed on the agenda of the EU Council of Ministers. If it gets the approval of the ministers of all 27 EU member states, it will be forwarded to the European Commission, which will then send Serbia a questionnaire with 1000 questions. The response to the candidacy application will be issued after Belgrade completes the questionnaire.

The questions are not unknown to Serbian officials as they have likely seen the questionnaire from neighbouring countries such as Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro, Liht says.

"The most important thing at the moment is that our government start preparing to answer those questions (...) When it comes to the type of the questions, they do not ask whether you have done this or that but they inquire about certain procedures such as how the country's ministries are cooperating among themselves," she says.

Todoric believes that at this point it is particularly important for Serbia to maintain good relations with Spain, with whom it shares certain foreign policy interests. Spain will take over the EU presidency in January.

"First of all, we can expect and hope that Spain will push the candidacy application at the Council of Ministers and encourage the sending of the questionnaire to Serbia by June. This however also depends on the consensus of the Council of Ministers, or whether the Netherlands, or perhaps some other country, will fight against such a proposal," Todoric said.