The CEU Centre for EU Enlargement Studies (CENS) and the Institute of World Economics, Center for Economic and Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Science cordially invite you to the international conference:

 “Serbia and Montenegro: A Step Closer to Reaching EU Accession?”

Central European University, Budapest

Nádor utca 9, Monument Building, Popper Room

 18 May (Monday) 2015, 9:00 am - 16:30 pm

About the event: While Croatia joined the EU in 2013, progress toward the accession of the other non-EU states in the Western Balkans has varied from country to country. The accession negotiations with Montenegro and Serbia are ongoing. The two countries are the only non-EU Western Balkan countries which have effectively made progress on their journey towards EU membership. Nevertheless, the progress of Montenegro and Serbia to a point where they are now tangible candidates for membership shows that the grip of anti-enlargement attitudes amongst EU Member States is perhaps waning. The benefits for the EU to enlarge to the Western Balkans, particularly in solidifying stability in the region and extending a zone of peace and prosperity to South East Europe, arguably outweigh the purported costs of accession.

The one-day international conference will explore the following: political challenges (democracy, rule of law and corruption, visa-free travel); economic challenges (competitiveness of Serbia and Montenegro and the rest of the region, challenges and risks of joining the single market); social challenges (unemployment, migration, civil society).

09:00 – 09:30  Registration

09:30 – 09:40  Opening remarks

09:40– 10:00   Introductory remarks

10:00 – 11:30  Panel I. – Extending EU territorial contours in the current framework: Political challenges

12:00 – 13:30  Panel II. – Added-value or burden for the EU: Economic challenges

14:30 – 16:00  Panel III. – Unemployment, migration and civil society: Social challenges

16:00 – 16:15  Closing remarks

                 RSVP: Hana Semanić (semanich@ceu.edu)