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The establishment of the European Communities and the European Union fits into the prevailing multilateral conception of international relations imposed by the United States in the years after World War II. The European Union had the task of merging several national markets into one, namely to liberalise trade, ensure free competition within the internal European market, and enact European legislation that would unify the economic norms of its member states. Seen as a multilateral product of a neoliberal ideological concept, the European Union has found itself under attack from neoconservative ideology and the American counter-revolution led by the American “businessman”, politician, and president, Donald Trump. This supranational organisation is no longer an American darling, nor a disciplined and subordinate ally. Still, it is increasingly perceived as a “parasite” that lives at the expense of the United States of America and that subjugates its citizens, eradicating their national and state identity, as well as basic democratic values. Therefore, the 21st century marks a period in which the European Union has faced the internal institutional crisis and external existential challenges.

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The author provides an overview of the development of the idea of the European Political Community from the Second World War to the present day, using the theoretical model of “differentiated European integration” as a paradigmatic model. The paper shows that the idea of the European Political Community could never have come to life in a federalist context. However, it can exist today as a model of “differentiated European integration” and, in a certain way, substitute the European Union (EU) as we know it today.

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The launch of the EULEX mission in Kosovo in 2008 was part of the European Union’s declared objective to promote broader societal normalisation between Belgrade and Pristina. This goal encompassed efforts to overcome the socalled legacy of the past, including the prosecution of perpetrators of interethnic war crimes, the identification of missing persons, and support for the return of refugees. The mission’s core tasks were centred on the establishment of the rule of law in Kosovo and Metohija and the creation of a secure environment for interethnic relations. The complexity of the mission is reflected in the dynamic nature of its mandate, which has evolved and incorporated new challenges. Despite the presence and work of the mission for more than 16 years, the rule of law in Kosovo and Metohija remains difficult, further complicating the process of social normalisation of relations between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. In addition, the mission’s activities have revealed a structural asymmetry between the EU’s strategic goals and the real capacities for action in the specific local context. That has raised the issue of its real possibilities to contribute to the transformation of a post-conflict society, in accordance with the proclaimed goals. The paper examines the effects and key limitations of EULEX’s actions, based on the EU’s normative approach. In conclusion, the paper will point to a deeper institutional and political disconnection between the Union’s normative expectations and the complex socio-political reality. The research relies on the method of content analysis of relevant official documents and discourse analysis.

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The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office were established in 2015 by a law adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo, in response to the Council of Europe report on inhuman treatment and organ trafficking in Kosovo and the report of the Special Investigative Task Force. However, the initiative to establish the specialist court did not originate from Kosovo but from the European Union and the United States, with great pressure and threats to the Kosovo authorities. From the very beginning, this court has faced a lack of political support and legitimacy. In this paper, the author discusses the reasons for the establishment of the specialist court, as well as the results of its work over the past ten years, with a special focus on some of the key problems the court faces.

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In this paper, the authors apply the dogmatic and normative methods to analyse Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings. At the end of the paper, the authors consider the importance of the studied Directive for the Republic of Serbia and its path to EU membership. They conclude that, primarily, the Criminal Procedure Code may be subject to harmonisation with the Directive, but that other laws (for example, laws on the media) and regulations may also be subject to harmonisation. When harmonising domestic law with the Directive, it is useful to have data on the normative and actual situation regarding its implementation in individual EU member states. For this purpose, we should gain insight into the Report of the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Directive. Finally, the authors also point out that the manner of transposing the Directive into the domestic law of the Republic of Serbia should be in accordance with the Directive.

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This paper presents the basicelements of the Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims,including the latest amendments adopted in 2024.This directive stipulatesa framework for establishing minimum rules defining criminal offences and penalties for trafficking in human beings. It contains common provisions that take into account the issue of gender to prevent this criminal offence and protect victims of human trafficking. It also provides measures that member states should undertake to establish national coordinators or similar mechanisms responsible for monitoring and reporting on the situation in the field of combating trafficking in human beings.

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The author analyses the institutional and technological framework for the digitisation of civil records in the Republic of Serbia, with a special focus on the Draft Law on the Civil Registry. The introduction provides a brief overview of the historical development of civil registry books, the current legal regulations, and the challenges of the existing hybrid system in which records are kept in parallel in paper and electronic form. Then, the new concept of civil registry keeping, which brings the introduction of a single Civil Registry, is discussed in detail. This solution implies the complete abandonment of paper books and transition to a centralised electronic status profile of citizens. Special attention is paid to comparative legal analysis, with an emphasis on the practices of Estonia, a country recognised as a leader in the field of digital governance in Europe, and Austria, a long-standing member of the European Union with a legal system similar to that of Serbia, which has successfully implemented the digitalisation of civil status records. The paper aims to outline the importance of this reform not only for the efficiency and transparency of public administration but also for strengthening legal certainty, improving the protection of personal data, and preserving historical and cultural heritage in the digital environment.

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To further harmonise the Company Law of Serbia with the Company Law of the European Union, extensive changes were made to the Law on Business Companies from 2011 in June and December 2018 by adopting amendments to the Law on Business Companies from 2018.In accordance with the third revised version of the National Programme for the Adoption of the EU Acquis from March 1, 2018, and the overall effort to carry out the transfer of community institutes into the domestic legal system as efficiently as possible, the amendments to the Law on Business Companies from 2021 provide for entry coming into effect on January 1, 2025. These norms will (in addition to the existing options for founding a partnership, limited partnership, a limited liability company, and a joint stock company) create for the first time the possibility of establishing community legal forms of business companies in Serbia. Bearing in mind the importance of the aforementioned amendments, the author analyses the specifics and legal position of the European joint-stock company (Societas Europea), primarily from the aspect of implementing supranational forms of economic organisation in the domestic Law on Companies.

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The analysis of the most important macroeconomic indicators shows the hegemony of the dollar and the position of the euro as the second most important currency in the international financial system. As a reserve currency for central banks, a means of accumulation, and a transaction currency (which are the main factors determining the degree of internationalisation of a given currency), the dollar dominates, while the euro takes second place. Although the euro’s participation is significant in many market segments, especially in payment transactions via SWIFT, it is still in many respects a regional currency. It seems certain that the dollar will continue to hold a key place in the global economy. The US still has liquid and deep financial markets; the convertibility of the currency is unquestionable; there is still, despite the sanctions imposed on numerous countries, a significant level of legal predictability; and perhaps most importantly, American military supremacy is successfully maintained, despite certain challenges. Given that the European Union (EU) is not a state in the classical sense of the word, the full implementation of plans to increase the international role of the eurozone currency would eventually allow for a limited increase in the share of the euro in official reserves, trade, and financial transactions. Consequently, the optimal way to maintain the long-term role of the euro as one of the world’s leading reserve currencies is possible through the status of the so-called “shadow hegemon”, where the dominance of the dollar would be unquestionable. An alternative path to maintaining the current position of the euro is possible through the emergence of a multipolar currency system, which implies a strong strengthening of the importance of the Chinese currency. What the Eurozone countries must do in both scenarios, in addition to the indispensable establishment of a banking union, is to create a critically large supply of common Eurobonds, which would facilitate the development of liquid and deep financial markets essential to support the euro in times of crisis.

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In economic theory, the term “balance sheet”is established and most often used instead of the term “financial statements”. Compiling a consolidated balance sheet based on the group’s accounting, i.e., the parent company and subsidiaries or holding companies, is a more complicated and therefore more difficult path, and its eventual choice would contradict the principle of efficiency. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the balance sheet of related companies is derived from the individual balance sheets of legally independent subsystems through the process of merging, eliminating, and supplementing balance, profit, and loss items, which is called consolidation. Information for monitoring real flows and nominal goods, expressed by presenting a complete and true picture of assets and results, is necessary not only for legally prescribed entities and their subsystems in the aforementioned sense but also for purely economic entities, such as the so-called groups, created by unification through financial or contractual ties of legally independent goals. This form of linking companies is known as a parent and subsidiary company, and the balance sheet prepared for these groups is a consolidated balance sheet.

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The green economy is a postmodern concept of the comprehensive inclusion of the environment in sustainable development projects. It emerges as a new paradigm for improving economic growth while simultaneously reducing the consumption of natural resources and preventing the devastation of ecosystems. Economic prosperity has corresponding social connotations embodied in the improvement of the health of the population, social justice, employment, and protection of the living environment. It is of particular importance for the Western Balkan countries, which are poor but have enormous potential for the green economy implementation, sustainable development goals, and ecological entrepreneurship. The current undertaking is based on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, aligned with the European Green Deal. It includes five primary areas: decarbonisation, circular economy, pollution reduction, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity. The paper aims to present possible modalities in a balance between economic progress and social inclusion in the context of environmental protection. The aforementioned segments affect economic, political, and social stability. The research results point to new directions for achieving social prosperity with a greater number of possible solutions for overcoming controversies, where meaningful and competent engagement of state institutions is required. The importance of the current consideration is reflected in the necessity of designing a long-term sustainable development strategy on the platform of the green economy in the countries of the Western Balkans subregion, based on the EU Green Agenda.

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In its Resolution on the climate and environmental emergency, the European Parliament calls on the Commission to take urgent action and take concrete measures to ensure that all relevant future legislative and budgetary proposals fully contribute to the coherence of the European Union’s (EU) policies on climate and environmental emergencies, in particular by reforming its investment policies in agriculture, trade, transport, energy, and infrastructure to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. The next generation EU Recovery Plan promotes investments in sectors significant to the green and digital transitions to build resilience, create growth and jobs in a fair and inclusive society, and protect water bodies in the EU. The 8th European Environment Action Plan (EAP), as the EU’s overall Environment Action Programme up to 2030, together with the EU budget for 2021-2027, includes a new monitoring mechanism to ensure that the EU supports the environmental and climate objectives of the European Green Deal as defined by the UN 2030 Agenda, the Rio Convention, and other relevant international agreements. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and supporting third countries to do the same are essential for the EU to become a global leader in achieving sustainable development. Actions to achieve the EU’s environmental and climate objectives should be implemented in line with the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, among which the right to clean water is foremost. Therefore, water protection is an indispensable element of this Action Plan. A separate part of the paper deals with the opportunities for the Republic of Serbia arising from the ideas and measures contained in these documents.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) is the main European actor in the exploration and use of space. It was founded in 1975 by the European Space Conference, which decided to create this Agency to merge the already existing organisations, the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) and the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO). The purpose of the European Space Agency is to ensure and promote cooperation among European countries in space and scientific and technological research. Research should be used for scientific purposes and the development of operational systems in space. That presupposes the development and implementation of a long-term European space policy that sets out specific space objectives and recommends the harmonisation of national policies with those of other national and international organisations and institutions. Ultimately, this approach should lead to the coordination of space programmes within the European Union and the adoption of more coherent national industrial policies in the field of space. In this regard, the European Space Agency is also an important factor in the formation of international space law through the internal procedures it develops, as well as through the implementation of international space practices and agreements it concludes.

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Prostitution is a reflection of social gender inequality, which is especially noticeable when it comes to female prostitution. Sexual exploitation is one of the most serious consequences of gender inequality in society. The European Parliament Resolution on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality of 26 February 2014 is proof that the European Parliament has recognised the social danger of this phenomenon and provided the basic guidelines for its suppression. The paper will present the most important measures for the suppression of sexual exploitation contained in this legal act, with the aim of once again emphasising the importance of joint action by the entire international community in the field of suppressing this negative social phenomenon.

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The dangerous migratory routes which endanger lives, especially at the high seas, which is an area beyond national jurisdictions, raise the question of shared state responsibility. However, it appears that many states strive to avoid this responsibility, exposing particularly vulnerable individuals to all the negative consequences. This article explores the concept of extraterritorial jurisdiction of the ECtHR through the prism of contemporary challenges surrounding migration. Even though the international legal sources set forth a framework that provides adequate protection, innovative state strategies in dealing with migration on the high seas leave a legal loophole between legal obligations and their practical implementation. Consequently, it is necessary to revisit the actual concept of jurisdiction and adjust it to the existing complex realities of states’ actions or inactions that have negative implications beyond national frontiers. Through the functional concept of extraterritorial jurisdiction, it is possible to establish a more just system for safeguarding human rights.

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The paper analyses the relationship between the right to business reputation of legal entities and freedom of expression. The author starts with the thesis that the right to business reputation is guaranteed by European and Serbian legal regulations. However, its definition, scope, and legal protection are insufficiently precise. The qualitative analysis used a descriptive method to present the normative framework set by the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The same method was used in presenting legislative and practical solutions in the Republic of Serbia to highlight the legal shortcomings of the existing system and find specific solutions. The paper concludes that the right to business reputation of legal entities is directly determined and defined by freedom of expression and that the existing European system and the system of the Republic of Serbia do not correspond to the current circumstances in which legal entities have an increasingly strong capacity for economic power, embodied in their business reputation. At the same time, the conclusion is that these entities are not allowed to adequately protect their business reputation. A turning point in the recent approach of the European system is considering the right to business reputation as property owned by the entity, which is an innovative but insufficiently developed solution. The author of the paper supports a solution that implies that legal entities, in addition to compensation for material damage, the proof of which in practice often becomes probatio diabolica, have the right to compensation for non-material damage modelled on the honour and reputation of natural persons and their protection from damaging information because he believes that such a solution meets modern challenges and confronts the practical problems of the existing system.