The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and Serbia held the 9th meeting of their Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) in the House of Human Rights in Belgrade. This civil society platform between the EESC and civil society in Serbia was established within the institutional framework of the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) in order to allow civil society organisations on both sides to monitor the country's accession negotiations. It is also a platform to discuss issues of common interest and to inform the public at large of the challenges ahead during the accession period. Besides the current state of play in EU-Serbia relations and the accession process, main topics of the 9th JCC meeting were Rule of law and functioning of democratic institutions and overview of the social dialogue situation in Serbia. A common declaration of the JCC was issued after the meeting.