The European Commission recommended on Wednesday that Serbia be granted candidate membership status, but rejected Albania’s bidю
The EC also expects Serbia’s neighbor Croatia to sign an accession deal in December, Accession Commissioner Stefan Fule said.
The recommendations were presented in the European Commission's annual report on countries aspiring to join the EU.
A pariah to the European Union when ruled by former President Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia has made progress in overhauling its economy and political landscape, the commission said.
The EU Commission said Serbia “will need to achieve further significant progress in improving relations with Kosovo” before negotiations start.
The commission also recommended the EU start accession talks with Montenegro. Unlike Serbia, the candidacy of the tiny nation is regarded as relatively uncomplicated.
The EC report said Albania, hit by a prolonged political crisis, had made little progress in implementing the reforms the EU had demanded. Albania’s ongoing political stalemate was cited as the main reason for denying it candidate status.
The report also noted a lack of significant progress for the other Balkan applicants - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia - and for Iceland, whose bid is hampered by a row with France and the Netherlands over an Icelandic bank bailout.
The Council of Ministers, the EU’s decision making body, is expected to endorse the commission’s recommendations in December.
