This is a baseline report that assesses Serbia's economic governance through the lens of competitiveness. CEVES aims to update this assessment on an annual basis.
A baseline assessment of Serbia's economic governance through the lens of competitiveness and EU accession preparedness.
At current rates, Serbia's productivity would take some 25 years to converge with the EU average.
State aid for large FDI investors (€434M) exceeds support for SMEs (€48M) by a factor of nine.
Real effective exchange rate appreciation since 2016 is eroding Serbia's manufacturing comparative advantage.
Record public investment in 2024, yet the largest projects bypass standard appraisal and procurement procedures.
Assessment through the lens of competitiveness and EU accession criteria.
Productivity catch-up has not matched the volume of capital absorbed.
A manufactured Dutch Disease eroding Serbia's comparative advantage.
Administrative dysfunction and political parallelism undermine the business environment.
What the budget reveals about governance constraints and delivery archetypes.
Alignment gaps and what they would concretely change.
Developed on paper, but the largest projects bypass standard procedures.
Framework aligned, but transparency absent for the largest investments.
Baseline diagnosis and the dual governance challenge.
Three tiers of actionable recommendations.
This is a baseline report that assesses Serbia's economic governance through the lens of competitiveness. CEVES aims to update this assessment on an annual basis.