CRTA+ monitors the democracy area of the Reform agenda.

This monitoring highlights the gap between reforms defined on paper and their implementation in practice, as well as whether they deliver tangible benefits for citizens.

Reform and Growth Facility

3/98

Steps achieved it total

Fundamentals and Rule of Law Policy Area

1/21

Steps achieved

1 out of 21 steps achieved in the Fundamentals and Rule of Law policy area.

Released funds

167 ml / 1,6 bn

Funds released based on the fulfilled conditions.

Source: European Commission scoreboard, last updated 29.05.2026.
reform-monitor.org

October

The Commission for the Audit of the Voter Register distanced itself from findings presented by the Government's Office for IT and eGovernment, which had reported a near-complete match between the voter register and source records. While confirming that the platform was developed in cooperation with it, the Commission stated that the Office's findings were not the result of consistent application of its methodology. It added that statements by other state bodies and by individual Commission members do not represent its findings, and that its audit report will be submitted to the National Assembly.

The Delegation of the European Union to Serbia issued a statement on the campaign for the 25 October early parliamentary elections, stating that free, fair and transparent elections are required for Serbia to advance towards EU membership. It listed a level playing field, equal access to the media and a clear separation of state and party among the conditions, recalled long-standing ODIHR recommendations, called on the media regulator to act on violations, and expressed concern over several reported incidents of violence.

After all eight REM Council members had agreed in writing to include TV Informer in the regulator's election-campaign monitoring, four reversed their position on 28 September and the vote ended 4-4, leaving Informer outside the monitoring. On 1 October, the four independent members wrote to the EU, OSCE/ODIHR and other international actors, warning that REM is formally constituted but substantively blocked, that its first real test showed it cannot apply objective criteria to a major broadcaster, and asking that this be weighed in assessments of the electoral process.

REM developments

Reform Agenda - Fundamentals: Democracy

Under the Reform Agenda, Serbia committed to implementing two Composite Steps within the area of Fundamentals: Democracy, with clearly defined deadlines - December 2024 for the first step and December 2025 for the second. These commitments and deadlines were not externally imposed; they were undertaken by the Serbian authorities as part of their own reform roadmap.

Neither deadline was met. None of the key reforms envisaged under these Composite Steps have been fully implemented. Some processes were formally launched but left incomplete or failed in the process; others did not move beyond declarative or procedural stages. More importantly, the principles explicitly identified in the Reform Agenda - ensuring public trust, proactively addressing systemic problems, maintaining transparent processes, and providing timely information - have not been upheld.

Instead of strengthening electoral integrity and institutional accountability, the reform trajectory has produced limited procedural activity without substantive results. In doing so, it has not only failed to deliver reform, but has further undermined public confidence in the credibility of the process itself.

First Composite Step (due by December 2024)

(subject to ODIHR assessment as the verification mechanism)

Working Group composed in accordance with the ODIHR recommendation. This would mean that the inter-agency Working Group on Co-ordination and Follow-up of the Implementation of Recommendations for the Improvement of the Electoral Process should act in full transparency, with the inclusion of relevant stakeholders, such as civil society organizations.
A meaningful audit of the voter register completed in accordance with ODIHR recommendations. This step means the establishment of the Commission which will oversee and control the voter register. The Commission should include representatives of the opposition, as well as relevant civil society organizations. The implementation of this recommendation should be recognized/verified by ODIHR.
REM Council re-elected (in line with the Law on Electronic Media) in a transparent and inclusive process. A clear explanation of this step is given in the relevant law.

Line illustration of a tilted plank on a pivot, weighed down by a stack of blocks on one side and balanced by a single block on the other.

Brief

New dynamism in the EU enlargement debate: implications for democratic governance and rule of law conditionality

Since March 2026, the European Commission and groups of member states have put forward five differen...

Brief

Proposed amendments to the public broadcasting law tighten political control and leave key reforms unfinished

The draft amendments to the Law on public media services introduce some formal improvements but fail...

Brief

Draft amendments to the electronic media law offer cosmetic fixes and leave regulatory independence unaddressed

The draft amendments to the Law on electronic media enter parliament in May 2025 without prior publi...

Brief

Amendments to Key Judicial Laws: Systemic Changes Without Public Consultation

On 28 January 2026, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted a set of five laws intro...

Relevant legislation to address ODIHR and Council of Europe key recommendations revised and adopted. The indicative list of laws subject to final approval of the Working Group includes amendments to the following laws: Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, Law on Local Elections, Law on the Constitutional Court, Law on the Prevention of Corruption, and the Law on Financing Political Activities.
Improved capacities of the Republic Electoral Commission and granting it its own Secretariat. Achieving this step would mean that the Secretariat is established by the decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

Brief

New dynamism in the EU enlargement debate: implications for democratic governance and rule of law conditionality

Since March 2026, the European Commission and groups of member states have put forward five differen...

Brief

Proposed amendments to the public broadcasting law tighten political control and leave key reforms unfinished

The draft amendments to the Law on public media services introduce some formal improvements but fail...

Brief

Draft amendments to the electronic media law offer cosmetic fixes and leave regulatory independence unaddressed

The draft amendments to the Law on electronic media enter parliament in May 2025 without prior publi...

Brief

Amendments to Key Judicial Laws: Systemic Changes Without Public Consultation

On 28 January 2026, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted a set of five laws intro...

Updates

Update

Voter register audit Commission distances itself from the Government IT Office’s findings

A week after the Government’s IT Office reported a near-complete match between the voter register and source records, the audit Commission said ...

Update

EU Delegation ties fair elections to the accession path, voices concern over campaign violence

Twelve days before the early parliamentary elections, the EU Delegation in Belgrade listed what free and fair elections require and recalled long-stan...

Update

Unified Voter Register audit – status and outlook before the election campaign

CRTA’s members of the Commission assess that the report due to the National Assembly on 28 October will be a set of partial diagnostic findings,...

Update

Serbia adopts anti-corruption law amendments: some concerns addressed, others remain

The National Assembly amended the Law on Prevention of Corruption (in force 1 September 2026), strengthening campaign monitoring and sanctions, while ...

Update

CRTA’s assessment of ODIHR recommendations from 2023 and 2024

Between the 2023 parliamentary elections and the 2024 local elections, ODIHR issued 54 recommendations for Serbia’s electoral process. Meanwhile...

Update

The Cluster 3 note and the Rule of Law report: two pictures of Serbia

Produced two weeks apart, the upbeat non-paper and the cautious Rule of Law report tell strikingly different stories – and reveal what the note ...

Update

The 2026 EU Rule of Law report on Serbia: reform on paper, not in practice

The report finds too little real progress to advance – against the backdrop of Serbia’s stalled path to the EU

Update

Independent REM members return after parliament’s disputed reinterpretation of the law

After parliament adopted an authentic interpretation reviving their mandates, the four independent members announced they will take up their seats ...

Update

EU declines to open Cluster 3 with Serbia

Member states withheld the cluster despite a Commission note crediting Belgrade with “recent progress” – much of it the authorities ...

CRTA.Plus is part of CRTA’s work to document developments related to democracy, the rule of law, and accountability in Serbia.

Key Issues

Slučajevi

Other pages

Slučajevi

CRTA+ monitors the democracy area of the Reform agenda.

The voter register audit Commission said the Government IT Office’s finding on the register’s accuracy did not consistently apply its methodology.

The EU Delegation in Belgrade linked free and fair elections to Serbia’s accession path and voiced concern over campaign violence.

Four independent REM members appealed to international partners after the Council failed to add Informer to campaign monitoring.

Reform Agenda - Fundamentals: Democracy

First Composite Step (due by December 2024)

New dynamism in the EU enlargement debate: implications for democratic governance and rule of law conditionality

Proposed amendments to the public broadcasting law tighten political control and leave key reforms unfinished

Draft amendments to the electronic media law offer cosmetic fixes and leave regulatory independence unaddressed

Amendments to Key Judicial Laws: Systemic Changes Without Public Consultation

Second Composite Step (due by December 2025)

New dynamism in the EU enlargement debate: implications for democratic governance and rule of law conditionality

Proposed amendments to the public broadcasting law tighten political control and leave key reforms unfinished

Draft amendments to the electronic media law offer cosmetic fixes and leave regulatory independence unaddressed

Amendments to Key Judicial Laws: Systemic Changes Without Public Consultation

Updates

Voter register audit Commission distances itself from the Government IT Office’s findings

EU Delegation ties fair elections to the accession path, voices concern over campaign violence

Unified Voter Register audit – status and outlook before the election campaign

Serbia adopts anti-corruption law amendments: some concerns addressed, others remain

CRTA’s assessment of ODIHR recommendations from 2023 and 2024

The Cluster 3 note and the Rule of Law report: two pictures of Serbia

The 2026 EU Rule of Law report on Serbia: reform on paper, not in practice

Independent REM members return after parliament’s disputed reinterpretation of the law

EU declines to open Cluster 3 with Serbia