After a two-year pause, the European Union opened a cluster in accession negotiations with Serbia at the intergovernmental conference in Brussels on Tuesday, N1 has learned.

The cluster, in line with the revised accession methodology that came into effect in February, relates to a green agenda and sustainable connectivity, and includes four chapters – Transport Policy, Energy, Trans-European Networks, and Environment and Climate Change.

Serbia officially became a candidate in 2012 and has since opened 18 out of 35 chapters, and closed two. The last chapter, on the freedom of movement, was opened in 2019 under the old methodology.

The intergovernmental conference on Tuesday was chaired by the State Secretary of the Presidency of the European Union of Slovenia, Gasper Dovzan, with the presence of high-ranking officials of the member states and institutions of the EU.

The Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, and the country’s Minister of European Integration, Jadranka Joksimovic, also took part in the meeting.

Brnabic said that the opening of the new cluster was great motivation for her country to continue with reforms in the areas of rule of law, public administration, and economy.

“This is a clear signal of our commitment to Serbia’s path to the EU membership; this is vital news for Serbia and the Western Balkans. The EU sent a strong message that it wants to accelerate its engagement with the green plan to benefit all people,” said Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Enlargement, adding the EU supported all reforms, in recognition of Serbia’s commitment to the rule of law and decisions related to the constitutional and judicial reforms.

“Hard work must continue, and be faster. That’s the only way for Serbia to meet the conditions for opening further clusters. In our 2021 report, the European Commission said Serbia has met the conditions for opening two clusters. The rule of law and the normalisation of relations with Kosovo remain key,“ the Commissioner said.