On the occasion of awarding expert support to 33 local self-governments within the EU Exchange 6 Programme, a ceremony was held in Belgrade, on 16 June 2023. EU Exchange 6 Programme – Enhancing credibility of planning, programme-based budgeting and control in execution of public expenditures at local level in Serbia“ is funded by the European Union as part of the national IPA 2019 Programme The implementation of this 2 million euros worth EU grant programme is envisaged in the period from September 2021 to September 2024.
The Ministry of Finance and the Public Policy Secretariat are competent line institutions for the Programme at the national level, along with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Ministry of European Integration, while the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) is an implementing partner.
Elected on the basis of a public call, local self-governments receive packages of professional support for the development plan, mid-term plans, and for the improvement of planning and budgeting of capital projects. Accordingly, the following local self-governments received developmental support:
- Development plan (8 LGUs): Ćuprija, Čajetina, Golubac, Bajina Bašta, Lajkovac, Kosjerić, Bogatić and Svilajnac and
- Mid-term plan (10 LGUs): Kovin, Subotica, Loznica, Krupanj, Novi Kneževac, Boljevac, Nova Varoš, Sokobanja, Leskovac and Užice.
Director of the Public Policy Secretariat, Bojana Tošić, said that strengthening the capacities of local self-governments was of great importance and that this Programme should be used for this purpose as well. She also thanked the EU for supporting the reform of the planning system in Serbia, and with regard to the current support packages through the EU Exchange 6 Programme, she put special emphasis on the development plans as the umbrella documents of development planning for each local self-government.
In addition, she emphasized the importance of mid-term plans as they link the measures and activities of development plans with the budgets of local self-governments, thereby rounding off the planning framework at the local level.