The aim of the project is to contribute to the preparation of two EU-candidate countries, Montenegro and Serbia, for the implementation of EU Cohesion policy, as requested in Chapter 22 of the Acquis Communautaire.
The Regional Policy is the EU’s main investment policy for sustainable and inclusive economic growth and pursues the strategy to promote and support the overall harmonious development of its Member States and regions. As such, it requires adequate administrative capacity for the proper use of financial instruments and the implementation of related projects.
Focusing on the programming phase of the Cohesion Policy, this project aims to offer a strategic framework and goal-oriented roadmap tailored to meet the needs of the two partner countries.
Training activities are organised to foster the exchange of know-how and experiences and will help improve good governance in the beneficiary countries. This goal will be achieved by strengthening the quality and capacity of competent institutions to undertake policy reforms and to promote the horizontal inclusion of diverse actors of society, such as civil society organisations, trade unions and chamber of commerce representatives.
The project is led by the Institute for the Study of Regionalism, Federalism and Self-Government of the National Research Council of Italy and involves the Ministry for European Affairs of the Government of Montenegro, the Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia as well as the European Affairs Fund of the Autonomous province of Vojvodina (Serbia).