New EU Financial Perspective
06 June 2011, Ognjen MirićHow well prepared are the municipalities for fund absorption?
Under the present system, Western Balkan states are granted insufficient EU pre-accession assistance and significant post-accession assistance, which they are often unable to absorb and use properly due to underdeveloped capacities and lack of project documentation.
For instance, Serbia has been granted around 200 million Euros a year in the 2007-2013 period. This annual assistance will be slightly increasing as Serbia draws closer to the EU, when it will rise to 1-2 million Euros a year, like it has in Croatia. Given that limited funds are allocated in this stage, Serbia and other Western Balkan states will be insufficiently prepared for EU accession in some crucial fields, such as infrastructure, agriculture, energy, environmental protection and human capital.
The European Commission and EU member states are currently debating the new EU financial perspective and budget for the post-2013 period. Assistance for Western Balkan states will be set during these consultations as well. Serbia contributed by preparing a joint document on the new financial perspective, which has been signed by the national IPA coordinators of the Western Balkan states and submitted to the European Commission for review.
The linear increase in IPA funds is one of the main ideas proposed under this joint document. Namely, such an increase would help the Western Balkan states prepare much better for accession by building the necessary institutions and investing in priority areas. They would simultaneously be better prepared for the absorption of funds upon accession to the EU.
The additional funds would be spent on projects which are evidently of mutual interest to the EU member states and Western Balkan countries, such as the Pan-European Transport Corridor, renewable energy sources, the Danube Strategy, Roma integration, uniform local and regional development, cross-border cooperation, etc.
Dear colleagues from the 25 cities and municipalities participating in the PROGRES Programme, are you prepared to absorb EU funds to a greater degree? Do you have ready projects and project documentation, have you resolved property issues? These are just some of the main questions that have to be affirmatively answered if you are to be granted EU funding for your projects. These questions are relevant to all other cities and municipalities in Serbia as well.
I am aware that some issues do not directly depend on you, such as, for instance, the need for greater project co-funding, but I am also aware that we have to be ready for the new EU financial perspective. You should identify in advance the projects, which will ultimately result in the opening of new jobs, construction of water supply and waste water treatment systems, reform of the school system, etc. and immediately start preparing the project documentation and resolving the other issues directly within the remit of local self-governments. Without the adoption of a strategic approach and active and timely participation in the design of projects, opportunities to use the funds under the new financial perspective will be smaller and opportunities to effect positive changes in the least developed parts of Serbia will be even smaller.
Ognjen Mirić,
Deputy Director of the Serbian EU Integration Office and
Chairman of the European Partnership
with Municipalities Programme – PROGRES Steering Committee