Serbia formally opened accession negotiations with the European Union in January. In addition to the transposition of the acquis communautaire, Serbia will be required to implement and enforce the whole body of EU law.

Five important figures in Serbia’s accession effort participated in the debate: Lazar Krstić, Serbia’s Minister of Finance; Srđan Majstorović, Deputy Director of the Serbian Office for European Integration; Jean-Eric Paquet, Director for Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo at the European Commission’s DG Enlargement; Tibor Draskovics, Team Leader at the EU-financed “Reforming Policy Coordination and the Centre of Government” project; and Milena Lazarević, Senior Programme Manager at the European Policy Centre-Belgrade. All discussed how public administration and good governance reforms are critical features in Serbia’s strategy for a successful accession process. Examples of best practice and lessons learnt from former acceding countries also featured in their presentations.