From the pre-accession funds, Serbia has up to 200 million euros available per year. Although we managed to use most of the money, it turned out that we are late with many projects. Project writing turned out to be the weak link. Did we learn anything from that first test for what awaits us when we become part of the European family.
"Build a Home Together" is a project financed from EU pre-accession funds, and it helped to take care of Roma families.
Aleksandra Krstić from the Secretariat for Social Protection of the City of Belgrade says that they bought rural households, built social apartments or renovated some of the existing buildings.
"The goal was housing, but also all the other help they needed to integrate as well as possible. It was a demanding project that required knowledge and experience to be implemented and written, but we succeeded", stated Krstićeva.
Knowledge and experience are crucial for the money from the Brussels funds to be used successfully. In order to improve the capacity of the capital, the Regional Agency helps. The Agency for the needs of the City of Belgrade writes projects and holds trainings.
Snežana Radinović from the Regional Agency for Development and European Integration Belgrade says that it is necessary to understand what EU programs are and for which areas the Union provides funds. That is the starting point.
"There is a more populist statement and the attitude that there is a lot of money in EU funds and that we do not know how to use it. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There are clearly defined programs of the European Union. You must know what they are, when they are, how and who can apply. These are the basic items before you enter into the consideration of writing the project", pointed out Radinović.
We have been practicing for eight years and with approximately two hundred million euros. annually. That money was used to finance innovative projects and the development of existing ones, as well as hospitals and schools. We also used European money to repair the consequences of floods. However, the criteria from Brussels are not easy to meet.
"Many years of experience have enabled them to somehow prepare for the use of those funds. The challenge for the next period is to prepare for much larger funds that will be available to us as member countries", said Ana Ilić from the Office for European Integration.
For quality projects, it is important to develop a private consulting center as well.
Ilić says that it is good that specialized companies are appearing on the market services.
"There is a large fluctuation of people from public sector organizations, private sector, so a critical mass of people is created who know how to prepare projects, in the actual development or in the holding of training and training or in the preparation of the projects themselves. It means that it is important to ensure continuity", believes Ilić.
Poor local governments and non-governmental organizations often do not have money to start project activities. The support of the system, experts advise, would be significant.
Source: RTS
Contact us and find out how RAREI can help your development, business or community.
