Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities organized a meeting with mayors and presidents of Serbian municipalities on 8 June 2018 in Belgrade, regarding the presentation of the EU Enlargement Strategy for the Western Balkans and the EU Progress Report for Serbia for 2017-2018. The event was financially supported by the Government of Sweden through the programme “Support for Local Self-Governments in Serbia on the Path to the EU – Phase Two”.

The goal of the event was to introduce heads of local self-governments with the EU views contained in the EU Strategy for the Western Balkans and evaluations and recommendations of the European Commission regarding the further process of EU accession contained in the EU Progress Report for Serbia for the period 2017-2018. Particular emphasis was placed on obligations and recommendations for the local level of authorities in the process itself, i.e. what EU regulations and standards will have the greatest impact on towns and municipalities in Serbia in the EU accession process.

In her address the President of SCTM Dušanka Golubović elaborated that local self-governments are not a direct negotiator in the accession process, but they must be involved in the process to understand their obligations.

“According to our analyses, chapter 21 on accession is related precisely to local self-governments. Therefore it is necessary for them to be familiar with the purpose of these processes and their goals, in order to explain to the citizens of their municipalities why reforms are necessary”, said Golubović.

The Head of Delegation of the EU to Serbia Sem Fabrizi noted that the role of local self-governments is very important for Union accession, and that discussions should not be held only along the Brussels-Belgrade line, but also at the local level.

Taken from: www.skgo.org