The European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC): possibilities and challenges for Serbia

Ivanić Valentina (Ekonomski institut, Beograd), valentina.ivanic@ecinst.org.rs

The paper analyses reasons why the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), regulated by Regulation (EC) No. 1082/2006 and then updated by Regulation (EU) No. 1302/2013, has not become an operational instrument of integrated territorial governance in the Republic of Serbia. The fact is that Serbia already has a general legal framework for cooperation between local governments and partners from other countries; the basis at the internal legal level is found in the provisions of Articles 13 and 88b of the Law on Local Self‐Government, while at the international legal level, it is found in the provisions of Protocol No. 3 to the European Framework Convention on Transfrontier Cooperation, which Serbia ratified in 2018. Serbia signed the European Framework Convention on Cross‐border Cooperation between Territorial Communities or Authorities on May 29, 2015, and ratified it in 2016. In the Declaration made with the ratification, it is stipulated that the application of the Convention depends on the prior conclusion of interstate agreements or, in their absence, on the express consent of the governments of the countries concerned, which directly affects the activities of local self‐government units whose cross‐border activities remain subject to the approval of the national level of government. The Action Plan for Chapter 22, in measure 1.12, indicates that Serbia still lacks the basis for the application of the EGTC Regulation, including the authorities responsible for its application, approval, registration, and publication, as well as further alignment with the rules relating to public funds, public procurement, VAT, and customs. Finally, the analysis concludes that the establishment of an operational domestic EGTC system would enable Serbia to move from an ad hoc, project‐based approach to an institutional logic of crossborder cooperation, especially in the areas of public services, transport, tourism, education and territorial planning.

Keywords: European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), cross‐border cooperation, territorial governance, local self‐government, Chapter 22, Republic of Serbia