There is a significant interest in the projects assisting the local communities, said the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Ambassador Sem Fabrizi in his interview for “Južne Vesti”. One of them is the EU PRO, a three-year programme, that is the continuation of the EU investments, and the municipalities present the projects in a competitive way.

“We are very happy, we see a strong demand, especially from the local municipalities to enter this process to join the European Union project. I encourage them to look into EU PRO, and other projects like Horizon 2020, Erasmus and other projects we run for different components, like the economy, the education and the society.”

The European Union has been active in the past 20 years with a number of social and economic development projects in the areas where there are still economic gaps to that need to be bridged, explains Fabrizi.

He stresses that in Serbia, like in every country in the EU, small and medium enterprises account for 90% of all enterprises and are the backbone of both the economy, and that it is a positive trend that the Serbian SMEs are applying for and implementing projects with the European Union.

He adds that the projects have been implemented for a long time, and that there is good knowledge in the local administration and also in SMEs, but parallel work is needed to advise them, guide them and direct them how to develop projects. There is always more demand for project than we can offer, which means that the companies know what they are looking for and we are happy they are working with us.

“The plan is to asses when this project will be completed, to also make an assessment of the project strengths and weaknesses, and if something needs to be changed. We are thinking of how to allocate further financial resorts for this project in 2019 and 2020“, announced the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, who also mentioned the surgical block in Vranje and the maternity ward in Preševo, reconstructed with the EU project funds.

Talking about the general situation in the process of Serbia’s accession to the EU, Fabrizi stated that the progress is more advanced in the area of economic reforms and that data indicate that the parameters in that segment are better and better, and emphasized the unemployment reduction. Further efforts are needed in the rule of law, so the Serbian Government revised the Action Plan for the Chapter 23.

“We are happy that NGOs and other components of the civil society are making their comments on what this Action Plan contains. I encourage all the stakeholders in the Serbian society, in the media, in the civil society, in the Parliament and in the businesses, to look into the Action Plan which is the Serbian roadmap for introducing the reform of rule of law.“

The EU will remain a strong ally and encourage the meaningful reforms in the field of fundamental rights, more democracy, independent judiciary system, more free press and freedom of expression. Accession is the process, reforms are the instrument for the EU accession, and the more meaningful, stronger and deeper they are, the faster it is for Serbia to get closer to the EU membership”, concluded Fabrizi.