Expert support for 30 local self-governments within the EU Exchange 6 Programme

A ceremony on the occasion of awarding expert support packages to 30 local self-governments within the EU Exchange 6 Programme was held in Belgrade on June 24^th, 2022. 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 in the scope of IPA 2019 national allocation, and is being implemented in the period from September 2021 to September 2024. The value of EU donation for the Programme amounts 2 million EUR.

The key competent institutions at the national level involved in the implementation of the Programme are the Ministry of Finance and the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, along with the Ministry of European Integration and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, while the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) is the implementing partner.

Local self-governments selected on the basis of a public call, receive packages of expert support for: elaboration of Development Plans, elaboration of Mid-term plans, and for improving LSG capital projects’ planning and budgeting, as follows:

Support package for elaboration of LSG Development Plans (12 LS): Boljevac, Vrnjacka Banja, Krupanj, Kraljevo, Veliko Gradiste, Pozarevac, Krusevac, Smederevska Palanka, Sabac, Surdulica, Gadzin Han and Cacak.

Support package for elaboration of Mid-term plan (10 LS): Bela Palanka, Razanj, Novi Pazar, Merosina, Nis, Raska, Sombor, Kanjiza, Backa Topola and Aleksinac.

Support package for improving LSG capital projects’ planning and budgeting (9 LS): Pirot, Vranje, Pozarevac, Kragujevac, Petrovac na Mlavi, Sremska Mitrovica, Prijepolje, Leskovac and Arandjelovac.

Jadranka Joksimovic, Minister of European Integration, addressed the audience emphasizing hoe important is readiness of local self-government for absorption of funds, bearing in mind that from IPA 3 pre-accession funds for the period from 2021 to 2027, significant funds are intended for capital infrastructure projects.

Joksimovic said that strengthened self-government prevents problems in implementation and pointed out that we must undertake necessary steps to make sure that all the funds available to Serbia are spent.

She congratulated local towns and municipalities that passed the selection procedures and criteria to receive support, and explained that they do not receive grants, money, but targeted technical, expert assistance, which she assessed as crucial for local self-governments in the coming years, especially having in mind large capital infrastructure projects that will be implemented in Serbia.

"It is medium-term planning, programing, capital budgeting, increased transparency, financial control, everything that is important in terms of preventing corruption, but above all, important for accountable spending of public fund. It is extremely important that this technical support will go to 30 local self-governments", she stated.

She explained the LSG representatives that funds are always more likely to be awarded if they make sure to regionalize the project and how important it is to understand potential of projects which are not limited solely to their own city or municipality.

"If it has a regional component, a project immediately stands out in terms of the reputation and importance on the list which represent the single project pipeline, and the chances are higher that the funds will be approved", says Joksimovic, adding that the reforms the LSG administration needs to undergo are not easy and require the involvement of enitre society.

According to her, exactly the available IPA funds have represented a significant source of assistance in previous years and continue to be so in the coming years.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Sasa Stevanovic, pointed out that the Ministry has very good cooperation with local self-governments.

"Efforts are being made to improve the planning of local budgets, but also to improve the quality of all other necessary planning documents, in order for them to be as efficient as possible", Stevanovic pointed out, adding that planning is the initial, first, and most important step, which points development directions.

He said that there must be a clearly defined path, so that the resources, which are limited, are activated and directed to their most purposeful, rational and efficient realization.

The Director of the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, Bojana Tosic, said that it is necessary to work on building the capacity of local self-governments, and how important it is to efficiently use what the opportunities that the Programme provides.

She thanked the EU for its support in reforming the planning system in Serbia, and in terms of current support packages through the EU Exchange 6 Program, she emphasised development plans as key development planning documents for each local self-government. Tosic also pointed out the fact that their development requires the commitment of the participants in the process, as well as the time lasting about a year on average, as provided by the approved support packages for 12 participating local self-governments.

Martin Klaucke, Head of Sector II Operations in the EU Delegation, emphasized the importance of the project for strengthening the capacity of local self-governments, and in general the importance of local administration aspects for the functioning of the state.

"You have an extremely important role in the entire political process. You are the first level of contact with citizens and their democratic representatives. It is up to you to express the wishes of the citizens, but you are also the immediate instance to provide services to the citizens of this country. I am very pleased with the start of this Programme, which mainly deals with planning at the level of local public policies, capital investments and financial controls. As you can see behind me - here we have the "Exchange 6" Program, implying that there were five previous phases. We have been cooperating with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities for almost 20 years on very important topics, for which we have invested approximately 35 million EU of EU grant support", Klaucke said.

"The lessons learned from this project will serve as a basis for creating new policies. That is why we continue to support the cooperation that is being realized between all stakeholders in the project", Klaucke concluded.

Nikola Tarbuk, Secretary General of the SCTM, pointed out that the Exchange Programme occupies an otustanding place among development assistance projects both within the Standing Conference and in the towns and municipalities themselves.

"There is practically no municipality or town that has not received some kind of support within the six phases, through various modalities - grants, support packages or professional counseling and training. We can say that together we have reached every local community through the Exchange Programme, and to some extent influenced its development - through the areas of economic or social development, environmental protection, agriculture, or systematic work on planning and budgeting issues in local self-government", Tarbuk said.

He stressed that the Exchange Programme in previous years has proven to be an important driver of reforms in the planning system and financial management.

"The new, EU Exchange 6, is also recognized in the Action Plan of the Programme for the LSG System Reform, which was adopted by the Government last year. Exchange is especially recognized as an important support in elaborating the LSG development plans and medium-term plans, for improving capital planning and budgeting, assessing of harmonization of mid-term plans and programme budgets, improvement of transparency and gender perspective of the budget and for internal financial control", said Nikola Tarbuk.

"First assessment of results of the support packages received by 30 local self-governments, are due in a year from now. Notwithstanding demanding nature of these packages, we expect that together we will successfully respond to them and achieve the desired results, and that we will once again confirm the purposefulness of supporting the development of local self-government", concluded the Secretary General of the SCTM.

The implementation of the EU Exchange 6 Programme is directly in the function of public administration reform at the local level and of enforcing the regulations from the scope of the planning and budgeting systems. Within the Programme, various modalities of LS support are applied on topics of importance for public administration reform at the local level.