EU Exchange 6: Public Call for applications – competitions for the award of Municipal Support Packages for: elaboration of Development Plans; elaboration of Mid-term Plans; improving the planning and budgeting of Capital Projects

28 / 02 / 2022

Within the EU Exchange 6 Programme – „Enhancing credibility of planning, programme-based budgeting and control in execution of public expenditures at local level in Serbia”, a Public Call for the selection of beneficiary local self-governments (LSGs) for the allocation of Municipal Support Packages (MSPs) is published, and includes competitions in three different areas, namely:

  • Competition for the award of MSP for the elaboration of the LSG Development Plan: implies technical support that should result in elaboration of Development Plans in beneficiary LSGs in line with the Law on Planning System and other applicable regulations.
  • Competition for the award of MSP for the elaboration of the LSG Mid-term Plan: implies technical support that should result in elaboration of LSG Mid-term Plan in line with the Law on Planning System, Decree on Methodology for the preparation of Mid-term Plans, and other applicable regulations.
  • Competition for the award of MSP for the improvement of planning and budgeting of LSG capital projects: includes technical support that should result in establishing/improving the process of planning and budgeting of capital projects in the beneficiary LSGs, in accordance with the Budget System Law, and by applying approaches that represent good practice of capital budgeting while adhering to the methodological concept pursuant to the Decree on Capital Projects’ Management.

The EU Exchange 6 Programme is financed by the European Union in the scope of IPA 2019 national allocation, and is being implemented in the direct management regime, implying that the EU Delegation in Serbia entails principal management powers. The key competent line institutions at the national level are the Ministry of Finance and the Public Policy Secretariat, while the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) has the role of implementing partner.

Municipal Support Packages, as a modality of working with towns and municipalities, represent a set of activities tailored to local needs, designed to assist LSGs to build their capacity by guiding them through concrete processes and provision of appropriate technical/expert support. In that sense, LSGs selected within this Public Call will receive technical support for achieving specific objectives in accordance with the topic of the individual competition as stated. The planned duration of MSPs is approximately 12 months, and it is anticipated that 10 LSGs will be selected per each of the 3 competitions.

Within this public call, complementary support is envisaged for the introduction of Public Budget Portals for 10 LSGs among the ones selected for these 3 competitions, with priority given to LSGs included in support packages for capital projects.

Competitions within the published Call are intended for all cities and municipalities, including city municipalities (gradske opstine) which can apply for support with the obtained consent of the main (parent) city (maticni grad), as explained in section 3.1 of the Guidelines for submission of applications (Annex 1). A LSG shall not be entitled to receive support under any of the 3 competitions, if at the point of applying benefits the same (similar) support as offered by present Call, but granted from other sources, i.e., other EU funds, other development partners, or other international and national entities. Pursuant to their needs and priorities, LSGs can submit applications within one or more competitions encompassed by this Call, with the restriction that within this Public Call a LSG cannot simultaneously apply for support package for Development Plan and support package for Mid-term Plan.

Submission of applications is to be undertaken by regular mail/post, at the address of the SCTM (Makedonska 22 / VIII, 11000 Belgrade) until March 23rd, 2022.

In the SCTM Competitions webpage, you can download documentation for Public Call for applications and receive more information about the Call, as well as information on online info sessions that will be held on March 1st and 3rd , via following link >>>