Since September 2012, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany has been continuously supporting the process of European integration of the Republic of Serbia through technical assistance projects titled Support to the European Integration Process and Support to EU Accession Negotiations in Serbia. These projects have significantly contributed to the strengthening of institutions for EU accession negotiations and development of public administration capacities of Serbia.
Continued support to the European integration process has also been provided within the project Support to Public Administration Reform in Serbia, which envisages a special component intended for this purpose. The implementation has commenced in July 2017, with the total budget of the project amounting to EUR 5 million, of which EUR 1.2 million is intended for the component of support to the European integration process.
The project will focus on:
1. Further strengthening of the capacities of institutions that coordinate the European integration process:
- Capacity building for the needs analysis and presentation of financial projections in the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis;
- Support to the Ministry, the Negotiating Team and negotiating groups for coordinating the process and ensuring the coherence of various documents in the negotiation process; and
- Establishment of an Electronic Document Management System for all institutions involved in the negotiation process.
2. Support to capacity building of negotiating groups:
- Organizing workshops and seminars for specific negotiating groups to provide support in the negotiation process; and
- Organizing internships for civil servants involved in the negotiation process.
3. Support to capacity building for EU Cohesion Policy:
- Support to preparation and finalization of documents in the negotiation process;
- Support to the establishment of a legal framework for the implementation of the Cohesion Policy; and
- Further capacity building of relevant institutions.
It is important to note that, through this project, analytical support to the negotiation process has also been provided.
The main purpose of analytical support is to identify and facilitate the management of potential challenges Serbia may face on its path to the EU in the process of harmonisation with the EU acquis and ensuring its efficient implementation. The analytical support to EU accession aims to support all relevant EU negotiation structures, in particular the Negotiating Team, in order to provide an analytical basis for better decision making in the accession process and defining the negotiating positions. Support is envisaged in three areas:
1. Support to organizing the analytical support function, including support to the establishment of the Group for Analytical Support to the Negotiating Team for the Accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union within the Ministry;
2. Small Fund for Special Analyses/Expert Opinions in order to provide an analytical basis for accession negotiations, in accordance with the established priorities; and
3. Fiscal and macro-economic aspects of EU accession negotiations.