Institutionalisation of local community development projects and EU financial programmes

Numanović Duljević Birsena (SŠ \"Nikola Tesla\", Novi Pazar), birsena.n.duljevic@gmail.com

Development projects of local government units in candidate countries for accession to the European Union (EU) are largely financed from EU funds designed to support programmes aimed at strengthening local governance structures. In the Republic of Serbia, as a candidate country for EU accession, EU financial support should lead to a more balanced socio‐economic development of local communities and improvement in the quality of life of the local population. The implementation of EU financial programmes is therefore an important factor in the accession process within Chapter 22, which concerns regional policy and preparations for the use of EU structural funds. The nomination of projects for specific financial support depends largely on the readiness of local governments to compete through technical projects, elaborations, studies, and other strategic documents within the framework of support programmes financed by the EU through development funds as part of its cohesion policy. As the EU provides both technical and advisory assistance in the preparation of the aforementioned strategic documents, this represents an ideal opportunity for our local governments and other communities in Serbia to build capacity and improve the development planning.

Keywords: Projects, local community, social development, IPA and IPARD instruments, Serbia, EU