Countries undergoing the process of accession to the European Union need to meet a number of political and economic criteria in order to become EU member states. Public administration reform, along with rule of law and economic governance, has been highlighted as one of the three pillars supporting the state reform under the European integration process.
Membership in the European Union (EU) is a strategic goal for Serbia. The process of European integration is complex and comprehensive, and it involves multiple phases that every country that wishes to become an EU member must pass through. The main principle of EU accession is that a country that wishes to become a member state, i.e. Serbia, must accept and apply the EU acquis, just like all the other countries which have acceded to the Union to date.