With countries in the EU lobby, there is an expectation that the criteria, in the worst case, will be the same as before, if not softened. However, the European Parliament elections send a completely different message - the EU is changing and will change even more; its citizens are reconsidering the governance model of the Union in which they live and have various doubts; they are looking for a new "social contract", just like the citizens of our region. And they don't trust their politicians, just like our citizens.
One of the dilemmas is the expansion of the EU: for how long, which countries come into play and under what exact conditions, can the EU survive with enlargement and should we perhaps introduce restrictions on the free flow of labor? And for those of us who want to join, the question of all questions is under what essential conditions can we get the support of European citizens and not just politicians?
These are the reasons why I believe we are at the beginning of an accession process that will be significantly different from what other countries have gone through in the last fifteen years. We are all troubled by corruption, organized crime, functionality, state administration, and some even by name. Along with a number of similarities, some countries also have very special problems. For Belgrade, it is the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and the continuation of the dialogue with Pristina. Many of the enumerated troubles were also obstacles in the process of accession of other countries that are now members of the EU. However, when it comes to countries from our region, we are talking about a blister that is so big today, that I think it gives me the right to say that it is about special accession processes. These peculiarities will not only affect the length of the negotiations, but also their content.
LONG AND COMPLEX PROCESS: Hence, it can be freely said, from the very beginning of the process that Serbia entered, that this will not only be a long, but also a complex process. At the same time, not everything will depend on Serbia. A lot will also depend on how the EU will look in a few years. This will be decided by the citizens of the EU member states, mostly in their national elections, but also in those for the European Union Parliament. The last, this year's elections for the European Parliament are an indicator of what we can expect. I read that message as follows: "We are ready to welcome those who are equal to us in every way to the club." First of all, economically, but also culturally and politically..." So, the right answer to all dilemmas depends on what is or will be in the hearts of EU citizens. They need to be won over, and that is much more difficult than winning over their politicians.
Our citizens decide in the same way. By voting for one party and not others, the citizens of Serbia also decide where they really want to go. For years, they have been sending the same message: they want a job and they want to live in an organized country. Until recently, a Serbian voter was closer to a German voter than a Serbian politician to a German politician in terms of how he thinks and behaves. Now that has changed and it is one of the rarely mentioned successes of this Serbian government. Which she publicly admitted that her citizens are equally Euroenthusiasts and Eurosceptics, just like the citizens of the EU member states. They are worried and hurt by the same pain - the quality of life, first and foremost. And the citizens expect the government to deal with just that - to solve problems and employ people, and not to deal with dreams and fantasy of some greatness.
The fact that all governments from the region are fully aware of their own priorities and those of EU citizens and are ready to harmonize them is my most impressive impression from the Conference on the Western Balkans, which was organized by German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week. She invited the prime minister, minister of foreign affairs and economy from each country and made three programs. I was invited to explain the "RCC Strategy" South East Europe 2020, Business and Development in a European Perspective (SEE2020), which was adopted by the Ministers of Economy in November 2013, as part of their national development programs and as a key regional development strategy.
THE ESSENCE IS THE QUALITY OF LIFE, NOT A MEMBERSHIP: There is no "great philosophy" here. The bottom line is that they committed themselves to, first of all, deal with the problem of unemployment, to eradicate state-sponsored corruption (fix public companies), to join forces with the rest of the region and with Europe in dealing with organized crime. In one sentence - they committed to reform their countries, regardless of when any of them will enter the EU. The truth is simple - everything that is done today in the accession process is more important for the quality of life of citizens than if and when the country will become a member of the EU. Joining is the goal for governments, but employment, judicial reform, eradicating corruption and dealing with crime are goals for citizens. Bigger and more important than any membership! And it is our lucky circumstance that these are all conditions for joining the EU at the same time.
Of course, all this is easier said than done. Sharp cuts are needed that encroach on some "acquired rights", change habits and the way of life and work. In order to succeed in this, the governments need the support of the EU. Continuation of the accession process is also necessary in order to maintain the momentum of the started reforms.
It is also extremely important that this is the first time in the last twenty years that all countries have realized how economically small they really are when viewed separately and how much more they are worth and can achieve if they appear together as a region. Because all the countries of the region together have the same population as Belgium and the Netherlands combined... but their total gross national income only reaches 60 percent of Belgium alone. The prime ministers and ministers came to Berlin with concrete proposals on how to employ their citizens and get as close as possible to the average of the gross social product of the EU members through intensive connection, implementation of the RCC Strategy SEE2020. Today we are below one third of that average!
REGIONAL COOPERATION IS KEY: Interesting, but it seems that the two youngest governments, Serbian and Albanian, understood it best. The two prime ministers came up with concrete proposals dominated by the understanding that individual states have nowhere to go; that they are worth more and can be together. They came up with proposals that include regional cooperation and regional projects.
The European Commission reacted extremely quickly. In accordance with the conclusions from Berlin, in which the role of the RCC (Council for Regional Cooperation) in harmonizing the development plans of the region in the field of economy is clearly highlighted, already on Friday, September 5, I will have a meeting with the director general for accession in the European Commission, who will have only one topic - how to turn what the prime ministers proposed into projects.
What will be on the table? Well, there will certainly be three projects from those proposed by the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ: 1) Initiative for freer flow of goods until the customs union is established; 2) revitalization of railway traffic in the former Yugoslav territory (which was also among the Albanian proposals), especially Belgrade-Sarajevo and Belgrade-Bar; 3) road network Niลก-Priลกtina and Belgrade-Podgorica-Skadar-Tirana. We will also discuss the Albanian proposal on the so-called The blue highway, which would continue the Croatian coastal highway further to the southeast, through Montenegro to Albania. In particular, energy will be discussed.
In the preparation for this conference, numerous interpretations and analyses, geopolitical and other considerations were heard - what does this German initiative actually mean, what is its relationship to Russia and its role in the Balkans, why this and why that? Honestly, all of that may be true, but it doesn't matter. Simply, I think that we should avoid polarization and placing our region in the context of major divisions or conflicts. Because the disagreements will be resolved, and Germany, together with others from the EU, will play an important role in the search for a solution. Serbia will also play an important role as the chairman of the OSCE next year. But let's not put everything that happens in the context of polarization and "high politics".
BOTH HANDS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY: The Berlin conference is perhaps the most significant event for the region after Thessaloniki in 2003 and after Croatia's entry into the EU. I think that we should seize the opportunity that the region has been given with both hands and try all together and each country for itself, to do everything we can to improve our own development and economic betterment. This means a constant fight against corruption, which was mentioned in Berlin as a condition of all conditions when talking about development projects. Also, we should use our national resources and constantly improve them. Only then should we seek help from the EU or other investors, regardless of where they come from. If we do all that, we will be no different from the citizens, politicians or government of Germany or any other European country. We are most like them when governments deal with employing their citizens and eradicating corruption. Then they see us best as similar to themselves. And here we return to the beginning of the story - EU citizens will accept us as members, not their politicians, and that's when they see us as their equals.
To paraphrase the famous anecdote from 1990, when one of our citizens said to a politician at a pre-election meeting: "I will vote for you when you are in power." Well, that's how our sympathizers among EU citizens think: they will accept us when we are like them. And we will be. For sure. In many ways we already are, not to mention athletes, scientists and artists. Let's just continue as we started in Berlin and showed that we can.
*The author is the Secretary General of the Council for Regional Cooperation (RCC)
