First EC Expert Mission to Arrive in Serbia

The European Commission’s first expert mission in charge of verifying Serbia’s answers to the EC questionnaire Belgrade recently completed is due to arrive in the country on Monday.

Serbia completed the questionnaire within 45 days and submitted it to EU officials on January 31. Based on the responses to 2,483 questions, the EC will assess Serbia’s readiness for official EU candidate status.

Expert missions of the European Commission will visit Belgrade several times in the next months to verify how the reforms are coming along in three key areas – rule of law and the judiciary, operation of independent regulatory bodies, and human and minority rights.

According to Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, as cited by Serbian media, the EU’s opinion on Serbia’s candidacy could be included in the annual progress report, on October 12.