Economic determination of Serbian foreign policy: The crucial importance of European integration for economy of Serbia

The most important part of the economic cooperation between Serbia and the EU, in addition to the inflow of foreign direct investments, loans, remittances (and donations), which predominantly come from the EU countries, is the exchange of goods and services. From 2000 there has been significant growth of trade between Serbia and the EU; merchandise exports and imports increased at double-digit rates over the past 16 and half years. In the same period, the share of EU in Serbian trade has not significantly changed, except for the effects of the three EU enlargement (2004, 2007, 2013), and is almost two-thirds. Having in mind that the countries of CEFTA, excluding Moldova, is likely to join the EU in the next decade, it is clear that the importance of trade with the EU would increase, at least nominally. In the last European Commission staff working document (2016) for Serbia is emphasized that the new government programme included Serbia's EU accession as a priority goal. Besides that, Serbia is only moderately prepared in the area of public administration reform. According to this report, Serbia will need to align its foreign and security policy progressively with the European Union's common foreign and security policy in the period up to accession. The EU is a key strategic partner of Serbia because of its huge global economic, technological and political significance. The EU is not just a very important partner, it is, in a way, a reference point for Serbia, as the modernization of the country, which is a natural priority for Serbian elites, is virtually inseparable from European integration and full membership in the EU.

People Moving in the Context of Environmental Change: The Cautious Approach of the European Union

With growing evidence that environmental factors are becoming more and more important in driving migration, many different actors have taken position on so-called ‘environmental migration’ in recent years. Lately, also the European Union (eu) started to approach this topic. While it is still far away from offering a self-standing policy on the issue, the eu has started a process of deliberation with the publication of a Commission Staff Working Document (cswd) in April 2013. This article provides an overview of the related policy process and analyses which rationales are shaping it. It further pursues a stocktaking exercise with regard to existing eu asylum and migration policies and explores which roles the eu could play in the context of environment-related migration and displacement under the existing ‘repertoire’ of eu asylum and migration policy and analyses it in light of the newly published cswd. The paper concludes that the Commission takes in its cswd a very cautious approach and that the policy process was shaped by similar factors as the area of asylum and migration.

EU Enforcement Policy of Community Environmental law as presented in the Commission Communication on implementing European Community Environmental law

On 18 November 2008, the European Commission issued a Communication on Implementing European Community Environmental Law. It was accompanied by a more detailed Commission Staff Working Document. The current paper is a ClientEarth legal assessment of the enforcement and implementation policy for Community Environmental law as proposed by the Commission in this Communication. The Communication reflects the extremely good work that the legal unit in DG Environment has been undertaking for years now in the implementation of enforcement actions. It also represents a new step in establishing a coherent enforcement policy for European Community environmental law in response to new challenges. However, the Communication and the underlying enforcement policy described are incomplete and are not sufficient for achieving overall compliance with Community environmental law in Member States. On first view, the Commission’s proposals seem to constitute efforts to tackle the problem of insufficient resources so that they can be used more efficiently and greater compliance can be achieved with Community environmental law. However, it might also signal the Commission’s unstated plan, or even a strategic decision, to retreat from enforcement activities and rely more heavily on Member States to enforce Community environmental law. Any such retreat would be a derogation of the Commission’s obligations under Art. 211 of the Treaty. This article is based on a ClientEarth discussion paper presented at a round table organised by Ecosphere on the 8th of July 2009 and takes into account the information and ideas exchanged in the debate. Representatives from different services of the European Commission including the legal unit of DG Environment, and the Legal Service, as well as from consultancies, think tanks and Environmental NGOs attended the meeting.