In January 2014, the Serbian government submitted to the Commission its Pre-Accession Economic Program for the period 2014-16 with the economic recovery and stabilizing government debt below 70 % of GDP as main objectives. The government has proposed a number of fiscal consolidation measures and structural reforms. Key legislation related to improving the business environment has been recently adopted, but the authorities would need to step up their efforts to implement the envisaged reforms. A number of labor market rigidities have been addressed with the recently adopted revision of the Labor law. Overall, deep-seated structural problems and a weak economy keep unemployment very high, although the overall unemployment rate decreased.

Recent legislative changes have addressed important labor market rigidities. The slow process of restructuring of the 502 state-owned companies is having a negative impact on public finances and the rest of the economy and needs to be urgently addressed. Many laws, important for structural reforms and socioeconomic development, are still adopted without proper consultations with businesses and other social partners thus excluding them from dialogue on a better regulatory environment. Social tripartite dialogue and industrial relations, together with the very small impact of the Social Economic Council remain very week.