Conditions and effects of environmental legislation changes: Twenty years from the beginning of the Europeanization process in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The Europeanization process, conceived as harmonisation of national regulations with EU legislation, is a complex process which is marked by various socioeconomic and political conditions. For more than nine years, the Republic of Serbia (RS) has been a European Union (EU) candidate country. In response to the defined objectives, the process of preparing and adopting regulations has been partly changed in the RS. However, the procedure still does not provide full perception and consideration of the specific conditions and possibilities of the RS economy and the society. In addition, the harmonization and implementation process has been facing a number of other challenges. Taking the example of environmental legislation of the RS and evaluating the conditions under which environmental laws were prepared and implemented, the paper explains the effects and limitations of the Europeanization process. The data show that there are some results in the harmonization and implementation of regulations that are in line with EU regulations. Almost all key environmental laws have been adopted, as well as a large number of bylaws. However, the huge implementation costs represent one of the long-term obstacles to achieving the goals of Europeanization.