The latest annual report of the European Commission on the progress of Serbia, published this October, shows that in the field of economic reforms, those concerning the privatization of banks and the functioning of the Tax Administration stand out positively. The concerning matter is the reforms of other state and public companies that are in stagnation, write europeanwesternbalkans.com.
One might think that everything is perfectly fine when reading and listening to the statements of government officials and members of the ruling majority regarding the new report of the EC and that Serbia will soon become a member of the European Union.
However, just from skimming through the report, it’s obvious that things aren’t so great and that there are many big problems to be solved. In the field of economic criteria, it is stated that some progress has been made in the reform of the Tax Administration and the privatization of state-owned banks (this primarily refers to the Komercijalna banka), however, it’s stated that “other big structural reforms of the public administration and state-owned companies are going slow”.
What are the problems related to the economic environment that Serbia is facing? At what level are the reforms that Serbia is implementing and what has been done well and what is lagging behind?
