The relations between Serbia and the European Union (EU) have passed through turbulent periods. The article follows the main stages of that evolution. Since 2008, when the two sides concluded the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the general enlargement policy of the EU has been changing to the detriment of realistic prospects of membership. Since the emergence of the latest crisis, the EU has lost its enlargement capacity, while leaving its previous enlargement policy formally intact. The explanation for this obvious inconsistency between the declared and the actual aim of the enlargement policy is to be found in the sphere of the EU security policy. In accordance with this inclination, the EU has systematically strengthened its conditionality policy, making it quite unpredictable for Serbia. Since the present relations do not have a productive outcome for Serbia, the article recommends reconsideration of the association framework. It provides some arguments in favour of new partnership relations.