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April 20, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
considered for membership in the EU.
The European Commission harshly criticised Montenegro for its lack of progress in the fight against organised crime in its progress report, and said that the country needs to make further progress in most other areas.
“Despite some progress, corruption is prevalent
in many areas and remains an issue of concern,” the report noted. The country must make progress in financial investigations and seizure and confiscation of assets. It should also continue investigations and convictions in high-level corruption cases.
For Serbia, meanwhile, the European Commission honed in on the incomplete structural reforms
to the public administration, the tax authority,
and state-owned enterprises. Even though the government claims it is making an effort to make these changes, the process still goes slowly as it requires politically unpopular moves which none of key political players are able to take without jeopardising their support. What has been done so far has been done mainly as part of the EU integration process.
“Serbia is moderately prepared to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within
the Union. Some progress was made to increase competitiveness. However, the level of investment activity is still below the economy's needs. Despite some improvements, companies face a number of challenges, including an unpredictable business environment, a high level of para-fiscal charges, and difficult and costly access to finance,” the European Commission report said on April 17. Left behind
There was also a lot of homework set for Bosnia, which applied for candidate status in 2015, and finally sent answers to its EU questionnaire this February — which is symptomatic of how political disagreements and the very cumbersome decision- making process have slowed Bosnia's progress towards accession, and are likely to continue to
delay it in future.
Bosnia has to urgently amend its electoral framework to ensure proper organisation of the October general and presidential elections, the European Commission said in a long list of areas where reforms are needed. The country also needs to adopt countrywide strategies in areas such as energy, employment or public financial management, it added. “Key remaining issues are a weak rule of law, a still poor business environment, a fragmented and inefficient
public administration and major labour market imbalances, related to a poor education system, weak institutional capacities, and an unsupportive investment climate. Moreover, the informal economy remains significant,” the report reads.
Kosovo, which is not yet recognised as an independent state by five EU members, was also issued various recommendations, including for more effort to normalise its relations from Serbia.
In addition, ”Corruption is widespread and remains an issue of concern. Concerted efforts are needed to tackle this problem in a comprehensive and strategic manner," the EC said. In the political sphere, the continuing political fragmentation and polarisation have adversely affected the role of the parliament and have impacted the effectiveness of the government.
The recent strategy document offered less hope to Kosovo than any of its neighbours, to a large extent because of its still unresolved status, but also because of various unfulfilled obligations towards the EU — though the parliament has recently ratified a border demarcation deal with Montenegro that should pave the way for visa liberalisation for Kosovan citizens travelling to the EU.
Kosovan President Hashim Thaci said following the release of the progress report that Kosovo has enough political will to intensify its steps towards EU integration and is fully committed to the EU reforms. However, he said that Kosovo needs