The European Commission has once again identified numerous problems in the area of economic and social rights, which The A 11 Initiative highlighted in its written contribution prepared for this year’s report.
This year’s European Commission Report is more specific in highlighting the consequences of an inadequate social protection system for the lives of people in vulnerable situations, while reiterating previously identified problems that the state has failed to address.
In the section on social protection, the European Commission notes that Serbia has still not acted upon the June 2024 recommendations of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) concerning the decision-making process within the Social Card Register and its impact on Roma and other people at risk of poverty, social exclusion and discrimination. Find out more about the harmful impact of the Law on the Social Card on people living in poverty HERE.
The Report also highlights the need to improve the coverage and adequacy of financial social assistance, as well as delays in adopting a new Social protection strategy and amending the Law on social protection.
The Commission further notes that the 2022 recommendation of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, calling for the removal of discriminatory eligibility criteria from the Law on Financial Support to Families with Children, has yet to be implemented.
Drawing on The A 11 Initiative’s contribution, the report also highlights that social assistance programmes fail to cover the actual number of women and men living in poverty, that a large proportion of children living in poverty receive no cash benefits whatsoever and that the social protection system continues to suffer from understaffing.
In the area of the right to housing, the European Commission warns that forced evictions continue to be carried out in violation of the law and international standards. The Commission stresses that evictions should not take place without adequate prior notice and a genuine opportunity for relocation to decent and affordable accommodation. The most recent example of unlawful conduct in the implementation of a forced eviction is the case of residents of the informal settlement near the terminus of bus line 26 in Belgrade.
These findings reaffirm the importance of continuously monitoring the implementation of legislation and documenting its impact on people living in poverty and members of socially marginalised groups. It is essential that problems in the area of economic and social rights are explicitly documented, with the expectation that this will also prompt the relevant authorities to take concrete steps towards addressing them.
The A 11 Initiative will continue to use legal action and public advocacy to highlight barriers to access of economic and social rights and demand that institutions be held accountable for removing them.
The European Commission’s 2026 Report on Serbia is available HERE.
