Representatives of 21 civil society and media organizations participated, from 16-18 April 2018, within the project "Civil Society as a Force for Change in the Serbia's EU Accession Process", in a training held in Mećavnik, Mokra Gora. Lecturers on the training "Strengthening Programme Partners for the Participation in the European Integration Process" presented the current situation in the process of Serbia's accession to the EU and motivated the participants to intertwine projects in effort to bring the process of negotiations closer to the citizens.
During the three-day training, the participants had four thematic workshops where they, together with professional lecturers, worked in detail within areas of rule of law and accountability of public authorities, media freedom, environment and sustainable development as well as youth policy.
Vladimir Pavlović, Belgrade Open School, presented where Serbia is currently in the EU accession process. He underlined the importance of the adoption of negotiating positions within the negotiating chapters and pointed out towards documents that civil society organizations and the media should carefully follow in order to actively engage in the process.
Jelena Surčulija, professor at University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Political Sciences, led a workshop dedicated to the role of media freedom in the process of European integration, as well as challenges in the realization of media projects in Serbia. Participants agreed that it is necessary to protect media freedom and improve conditions for credible journalism. Therefore, the workshop included discussion of current media laws: the Law on Electronic Media, the Law on Public Media Services and the Law on Public Information and the Media. The non-application of laws, pressures on journalists and limited role of the EU in assessing the state of freedom of expression are just some of the problems that media encounter in Serbia. The conclusion was that the problems can partially be resolved through better networking of organizations - through mutual support, co-authorship in program production, content exchange, and active involvement in the process of European integration.
Milan Antonijević, Human Rights Lawyers Committee YUCOM, during a workshop on the rule of law and responsibility of public authorities, reiterated that this is one of the basic values of the EU. In line with the criteria set during the accession process, states that want to join the European Union must establish and promote the work of the most important institutions for maintaining the rule of law from the earliest stages of accession. Especially after the adoption of the EU Enlargement Strategy, the European Commission has confirmed that one of the priorities of the state that wants to become a member is a compulsory reform that relates to the rule of law and fundamental freedoms. Participants discussed Chapters 23 and 24 and the implementation of the Action Plans as well as the upcoming reform of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. Significant topics that were included in the discussions were the increase in transparency and efficiency of the judiciary, the improvement of the criminal penal system, decentralization, fight against corruption, as well as the protection of basic human and minority rights.
Marija Bulat, Regional Youth Cooperation Office, and Milica Škiljević, Belgrade Open School, emphasized to the representatives of civil society organizations with current elements of youth policy in the process of Serbia's integration into the EU, as well as existing youth policies at the EU level. During the workshop, participants were presented parts of the Chapters dealing with the situation of young people in Serbia, as well as mechanisms of structured dialogue and other tools for increased participation of young people in decision making. Also, the partners presented their projects within the CS4EU program and the challenges they face, but also discussed the possibilities for improving project activities through cooperation with other project partners.
Žaklina Živković, Group for the Analysis and the Creation of Public Policies, and Ognjan Pantić, Belgrade Open School, addressed the current state of environmental protection and perspectives within the negotiation Chapter 27. The workshop also presented the most important European Union directives which Serbia will have to implement, as well as reports showing the state of environment and climate change in Serbia. Participants presented an analysis of the existing mechanisms of public participation in the negotiation process and they exchanged experiences and defined recommendations for future improvement.
Srđan Staletović, communications and PR consultant, dealt how the media image of the European Union in Serbia is depicted by its officials, Serbian politicians and experts. Communication on the EU accession process is rather diluted and divided into a number of small projects that ultimately cannot come to terms and reach a comprehensive high-quality media presentation, as well as qualitatively reach wider public audience. In this regard, citizens cannot discern and get information, that is, the information very poorly reach them. Encouraging the right public debate is quite challenging, but civil society organizations and the media can only achieve this together. The association and networking of projects, as well as the combining financial strenghts in means of communication, partially done within the CS4EU project, is definitely a model that would contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about the European integration process, as well as additional impact on decision-makers.
Suzana Grubješić, Secretary General of the European Movement in Serbia, mentioned that the final text of the Strategy on Enlargement of the European Union, adopted in February 2018, is much more general than drafts that she had the opportunity to see. She noted that the adopted text is just enough to reflect on the average value of the Commission's wishes and Member States. The only new information is the mentioning of 2025 as a potential year for the accession of Serbia and Montenegro to the EU, while other information has already been stated many times in various documents. The new European Commission Report on Serbia, published on 17th April, brings an overview of the situation in the European integration process of Serbia in the last 2 years. The main problems remain more or less the same: Chapters 23 and 24 (judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security, freedom of the media), Chapter 35 (normalization of Belgrade-Priština relations) and Chapter 31 (coherence of foreign and security policy with EU positions). Some progress has been made in the context of economic reforms and public administration reform. She announced the Summit in Sofia, the "EU-Western Balkans", which will be held in May, as well as the forthcoming Summit in London in July, within the Berlin Process. It is noted that it is highly questionable whether Serbia will succeed in opening and then successfully closing the remaining 23 negotiating chapters until 2023.
The project "Civil Society as a Force for Change in the Serbia's EU Accession Process ", as well as the training program, aims to support active participation in the process of Serbia's EU accession through project and institutional support to civil society organizations and the media. Belgrade Open School, within the second year of the CS4EU project, has 17 partners from Subotica, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Niš, Prijepolje, Prokuplje, Užice, Kruševac, Loznica, Valjevo, Pirot, Kragujevac and Arilje. Through this network of organizations and media from all over Serbia, BOS strives to improve the quality of the European integration process and contribute to democratic development in Serbia by strengthening the role of civil society and bringing European integration closer to the needs of citizens. The realization of the three-year project is supported by the Kingdom of Sweden.