The new European Neighborhood and Enlargement policy Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi told a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday that Serbia needs to speed up reforms on the road to the European Union.

He said that rule of law and freedom of the media are the key areas to focus on, and recalled that Serbia has opened 13 chapters to date.  

EU expansion remains a priority, the commissioner said and added that each individual country has to work on reforms with their governments bearing the main responsibility to implement reforms and parliaments playing a major role in implementing regulations for the benefit of their citizens.

Varhelyi said the priorities are economic development, the functioning of democratic institutions and reforms of the public administration.

“The focus should be on the fundamental effects of those reforms and their implementation on the ground,” he said, adding that the true measure of success are higher living standards and liberties as the ultimate goal of the expansion process.