governance

Serbia EU Accession Reform in 1H 2026 Faces Governance and Legal Scrutiny

Serbia’s accession process remains formally open, with negotiations underway since January 2014. The current status includes 22 of 35 chapters opened and two chapters provisionally closed. The European Commission has confirmed that Cluster 3 (competitiveness and inclusive growth) is technically ready to open. The pace of negotiations continues to depend on rule-of-law reforms and normalization of relations with Kosovo, which remain central constraints in the accession framework. Serbia’s legal alignment process is therefore described as technically progressing in some areas,…