The enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans is still an uncertainty, fifteen years after the countries of the region were promised a European perspective at the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit.

This paper suggests the need to change the current approach and structure of the EU Enlargement Policy.

This discussion paper argues that the current dynamics in Serbia’s EU accession talks and the existing modes of interaction between the Serbian government, civil society and European Commission (EC) are not conducive to swift and sustainable progress on the EU track.

The study identifies the key deficiencies of Serbian civil service system seen from the perspective of the accession process, with the particular focus on the recruitment policy.

CEP has proposed to the new Government of Serbia a platform entitled “What is the Problem?” – an analytical summary document which concisely elaborates the structure of the main problem of policy making in Serbia, followed by certain more specific, sectoral problems which are to a great extent the consequence of a lacking systemic and systematic approach to policy making.