SR


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

CRTA's two members of the Commission auditing the Unified Voter Register assessed that a comprehensive, system-level audit establishing the register's accuracy, completeness and integrity is not feasible under current conditions. Of roughly seven months available for substantive work, about four were consumed in securing access to basic voter-level data and its history of changes. Access to the source registers allows only individual checks by a known personal number, and the Commission was informally told an IT audit of the register software would not be permitted. The first report due on 28 October will therefore be a diagnostic assessment and a set of partial audits.
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The National Assembly amended the Law on Prevention of Corruption (Official Gazette No. 80/2026), in force from 1 September 2026. The amendments introduce Agency monitoring of officials throughout the campaign, with mandatory monitoring of the President and members of the Government, differentiated sanctions, and clearer procedural rules. CRTA sees progress on some points long raised by ODIHR, but warns that the definition of a public official and the asset-declaration rules remain weak, and that the law was adopted under urgent procedure, without a public debate.
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On 1 September 2026, at its third constitutive session, the REM Council again failed to elect a president. As at the two July sessions, the members split into two blocs of four - candidates backed by the governing parties, and independents - and the two leading candidates, Dubravka Valić Nedeljković and Miloš Garić, each won four votes, short of the two-thirds majority (six of nine) the law requires. Members accused each other of obstruction; the chair, who continues to preside as the oldest member, said negotiations were ongoing and likened the deadlock to comparable stand-offs abroad that lasted from five months to five years. Representatives of the EU Delegation and the OSCE attended.
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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...
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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...
Read more
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...
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Serbian Parliament
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...
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Second Composite Step (due by December 2025)

  • 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.
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...
Read more
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...
Read more
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...
Read more
Serbian Parliament
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...
Read more

Updates

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