Where are pre-accession funds used for?

The European Union has approved EUR 178.7 million of pre-accession funds for Serbia. It is mostly dedicated to infrastructure, judicial reform and support to local government. Marking this year as a historical one in the relationship between Serbia and the EU, the European commissioner for enlargement has sent a message from Brussels calling for the present momentum to be used to continue reform.

Ognjen Mirić from the Serbian European Integration Office says that one of the projects is the construction of a gas interconnection between Serbia and Bulgaria worth some EUR 60 million.

- Another example is a water treatment plant in Raška. Beside these infrastructure projects, there are also projects to promote reforms, such as pubic financial control, since all public bodies are obliged to have an internal audit also, says Mirić.

Twenty million euros will be disbursed in the municipalities of the south and south-west for local government reform and employment support. Some of the funds should be used to regulate shipping on the Danube. The projects are secured but not their implementation.

- For example, one of the projects dealing with accommodation issues for the Roma population, town planning documentation and the resistance of local populations to Roma integration presents a problem, explains Mirić.

The Ministry of Justice is expecting EUR 14 million for six projects. This will be used to empower the High Judicial Council and the State Prosecutors Council, for the Judicial Academy and to improve conditions in prisons.

- In connection with this, agricultural machinery and solar panels will be procured so that prisoners have something to do and prisons can save energy. Works are foreseen at the Correctional Institute for women in Požarevac, says Assistant Minister of Justice Čedomir Backović.

In the coming year, Serbia will have at its disposal an additional EUR 12 million to deal with refugee issues, 4 million for education and 2.5 million for civil society.

Translation provided by: www.halifax-translation.com