BRIDGING THE GAP: APPLYING THE PIF DIRECTIVE IN EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES

The EU manages an independent budget of more than 200 billion euro annually, making it vulnerable to fraud and corruption, which can undermine financial stability and public trust. To combat this, the PIF Directive (2017/1371/EU) harmonises financial crime definitions and mandates enforcement standards, extending to candidate countries including Serbia. This paper analyses Serbia’s compliance with the Directive, testing the hypotheses that despite the legislative reforms, some key challenges remain, notably the lack of a defined ‘EU’s financial interest’ in Serbian law, which hinders prosecution. The analysis also focuses on interagency cooperation and legal alignment with EU bodies such as OLAF and EPPO. Using desk research methodology, the paper assesses Serbia’s legal and institutional framework, offering recommendations to refine legal definitions, strengthen penalties, and enhance investigative capacities, ensuring Serbia meets its Chapter 23 and 24 EU accession requirements.