Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

Local self-governments should actively participate in the process of negotiation on EU accession, because they will have an important role in the implementation of accepted obligations, it was said on 24 December, at the presentation of projects on the role of local authorities in EU membership negotiations. As noted, information they can provide in this phase of the accession process may be of key importance for the implementation of accepted obligations. On the other hand, negotiations will bring new obligations and competences to local authorities, and they will have to learn to function in a completely new environment.

The participants said that as of 2015, the municipalities will have the obligation of applying budget programming, intended to enable better connections between strategic goals and financing.

The project “Role of Local Self-Governments in the Process of Pre-Accession Negotiations of Serbia and the EU” showed that there is lack of familiarity and understanding of the process with local authority representatives, along with hostility, because they believe they cannot make much of a difference in the area, the participants said.

As part of a project implemented by the Centre for Democracy Foundation with the support of the Olof Palme Centre in 2014, trainings were held for officers in 10 municipalities in Vojvodina and Eastern and Central Serbia.

Source: www.euractiv.rs