International Cooperation

Local self-government units strive to interconnect and, through the exchange of experiences, learn from one another overcoming the political and administrative boundaries. Multilateral cooperation is realized through participation in the work of international, European and regional organizations, networks, and associations and is regulated by international agreements on the membership of Serbia, or by agreements concluded by the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities as a member. Bilateral cooperation is regulated by the Law on Local Self-Government and it is implemented through twinning, decentralized, project or cross-border cooperation with an international partner - a unit of local self-government or other legal entity from a foreign country. On the basis of the agreements reached, the delegations of local self-governments participate in the work of these organizations, in the creation of policies, acts and decisions and represent the interests of the Serbian local authorities.

SCTM as a member of international, European and regional organizations participates in the nomination process, provides professional and technical support to the functioning of delegations, links with other members, supports the activities of organizations in Serbia and contributes to the preparation of political documents, analyses and studies. We also organize study visits of local authorities in the country and abroad, international meetings in the country, as well as representation of our local authorities abroad with the exchange of experts. We are committed to active bilateral cooperation with a large number of associations of local authorities from Europe and beyond, through projects, exchange of good practice, delegation visits and similar activities. A particularly important activity is the support to members in establishing partnerships with municipalities and towns of other countries, which is reflected in coordination of initiatives for cooperation, provision of information and model of documents. In order to implement these activities, SCTM co-operates with representatives of EU institutions, state bodies, diplomatic missions in Serbia and abroad, and representations of towns, municipalities and associations in Brussels, as well as other important partners.

SCTM plans to further enhance cooperation with EU-level institutions, organizations and networks of local authorities, such as the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the CoE, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the EU Committee of Regions, and other sectoral organizations and networks in the region. We will actively support representatives in European organizations and institutions to actively monitor and participate in the policy making of these organizations and represent the interests of local authorities from Serbia at international and regional forums. We intend to network as much as possible, increase the visibility of local authorities and extend the scope of activities to other organizations at European and regional level of relevance to local authorities. We will inform them about trends/reforms in the field of local self-government and best practices from other countries, with the support to developing partnerships and exchanging experiences with partners from abroad, including study visits. Special attention will be paid to creating a special electronic mechanism for tracking initiatives and establishing partnerships.