The Conference "Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance IPA II 2014-2020: New Opportunities and New Challenges in the Process of Accession Negotiations of Serbia with the European Union” was held on Tuesday in organization of the European Movement in Serbia with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
The main objective of the conference was to raise awareness of the importance of building capacity at all levels in order to ensure the efficient utilization of the resources available from the accession negotiations and thus contribute to the development of our country.
The European Union has adopted a new multi-annual financial framework for the period 2014-2020. Serbia will remain at the receiving end of the pre-accession assistance during this period as a EU candidate country. It is expected that the new instrument for pre-accession assistance will continue to support candidate countries and potential candidate countries in preparation for the membership, as well as during the harmonization of their economies and institutional frameworks with the standards and policies applied in the EU.
This conference was the opportunity to present key challenges of pre-accession funds utilization in the negotiation process with the EU, and in the establishment and building up of the administrative capacity for the management of the funds. It has also discussed the novelties introduced by the EU financial framework for the period 2014-2020, as well as the level of preparedness of local stakeholders for the efficient use of the EU funds in the future.
