Serbia has effectively utilised EU funds

January 15 2015 |

Serbia has effectively used the pre-accession funds of the European Union, states the report of the most significant independent financial supervisory body of the EU- the European Court of Auditors (ECA), published on 13 January in Luxembourg.

"The European Court of Auditors established that the sum of approximately 1.2 billion Euro, which Serbia received from the EU between 2007 and 2013, has in principle been effectively utilised to prepare the country for EU membership", reads the report of the Court.

The Court found that by directing funds towards improving public administration, establishing the rule of law and combating corruption, the European Commission has effectively set priorities, which has led to a gradual improvement in these sectors. Use of IPA programme funds has contributed to the implementation of social and economic reforms and improvement of public financial management.

Although the programmes have met the targeted objectives in principle, the recommendation of the Court is to improve the use of second-generation IPA for the period 2014-2020 with the aim of removing certain past shortcomings in terms of planning, implementation and sustainability.