CIDEC - Citizens Dialogue for European Consensus
The State and NGO can work together, concluded at the round table held in Novi Sad
05.11.2008
The second round table on the topic "Building Parterships between NGO and Public Administration in the EU Integration Process" was held on November 5th 2008 in Novi Sad in scope of the CIDEC project- "Citizens Dialogue for European Concensus". About 60 representatives of institutions, civil sector and funds, as well as numerous representatives of the media from Vojvodina, attended this round table.
Explaining the CIDEC project objectives, Executive Director of Civic Initiatives, Miljenko Dereta, said that the State and nongovernmental organisations can work together and "complement one another" in order to enable the citizens to become more actively involved in the process of changes and European integrations. In the Vojvodina Assembly, Dereta said the project objective was that the citizens recognise their direct interest in the process of European integrations. "The process of changes is time-consuming, but unstoppable", he stated, adding that experiences of other countries were of invaluable importance for Serbia to avoid the mistakes and traps they made in scope of that process. He presented experiences of Poland, Slovenia and Macedonia stressing it was necessary to establish both social and political concensus about the EU as the objective of Serbian citizens and politicians and explained the goal of the project was to initiate public discussions on this topic.
The Director of the Fund for Development of NGO Sector of AP Vojvodina and co-organiser of this gathering, Ana Segedinski, reminded the participants to the fact that the Assembly of APV had set up the Fund for Non-Profit Sector in 2003 in order to create the most enabling social environment possible for development of civic organisations in Vojvodina. In this way, according to her words, support has been provided to the nongovernmental sector, building of civic society, rule of law, social solidarity, respect of diversity, amicable conflict resolution, exchange of knowledge and experiences, as well as to inter-sectoral cooperation. She said that up to date, the Fund has organised six thematic competitions for funding and co-funding of civil associations' project proposals, several public debates, round tables, discussions, debates and conferences, and added that the Fund's doors was always open for all questions, proposals and suggestions.
The Coordinator of the Serbian Ministry of Finance Neighbour Relations programme, Bojana Milićević, talked about the cross-border cooperation programmes with Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. She said that the goal of this project was to assist the citizens to get involved in European integrations by establishing equalised and sustainable socio-economic development in the region, bringing closer and introducing the EU practices and procedures to the non-member countries, joint participation in projects in order to resolve problems and ensure improved safety in the border region. The importance of this programme is emphasised by provision of grant funds (85% grant, 15% IPA co-financing), implementation of projects according to the EU rules and enabling cooperation with the neighbouring countries.
See PP presentation of Bojana Milićević ( English version not available )
Representative of the EU Integration Office of the Serbian Government, Jelena Stevanov, said that the EU Integration Office signed Memorandum on Cooperation with representatives of 74 nongovernmental organisations in Serbia. In her words, the goal of this cooperation was not for the civil society in Serbia to be recognised solely as the participant in the EU integration process, but also as its owner. This process did not comprise solely the EU membership, but primarily reforms in Serbia that would lead to that membership, said Stevanov. She added that unfortunately, the Office did not have the funds to finance the NGO projects, but that, nevertheless, she expected great assistance from the civil sector in processes awaiting Serbia as regards Visas liberalisation, obtaining the candidate status, decentralised implementation of the resources from IPA funds.
See PP presentation of Jelena Stevanov ( English version not available )
This meeting was also addressed by the Advisor for European Integration Processes at the European Affairs Office of the AP Vojvodina Executive Council, Igor Bajić, who talked about opportunities for cross-border cooperation and importance of European integrations. The next event in scope of the CIDEC programme was scheduled for November 28th 2008 in Belgrade.
The EU Integrations round table held in Bujanovac
03.11.2008
The round table "Building Partnerships between NGO and Public Administration in the EU Integration Process" held on October 31st in Bujanovac, represented a continuation of series of debates and conferences on the EU-related issues.
The conference was opened by the Civic Initiatives Executive Director, Miljenko Dereta, who transferred to the attendees impressions from the First Conference held at the beginning of October in Belgrade and added that the idea of this meeting was that "based on experiences of others, Serbia knows how to undergo through necessary changes on its way towards the European Union".
Talking about experiences of Poland, Dereta said that this country has passed through three levels in its integration process: harmonisation of joint platform among authorities, negotiations with the EU officials, as well as discussions and survey of the Polish public opinion. Dereta stated that at this point, the State wanted to assist civil sector, civic initiative, but that unfortunately in the South of Serbia, people were still thinking the old way. "We are waiting for someone else to finish our work instead of us, whereas the aim of these round tables is to demonstrate to people that their initiative matters and that it can obtain support", he added.
Representative of the Coordination Body for the South of Serbia, Danijela Nenadić, evaluated that decision of the Serbian Government to recognise diplomas stamped by UMNIK was "the first step towards the long-term resolution of high education issues" in the South of Serbia. She announced "it can be expected that in two years' time, a high education institution in Serbian and Albanian languages will be opened in Medveđa". According to what she said, by the end of the coming year a high education institution in Albanian was going to be opened in Bujanovac, with a remote unit in Preševo. "Model for this project will be developed in cooperation with other countries from the region with similar experiences, primarily with Montenegro", said the Coordination Body representative. Danijela Nenadić added that cooperation with civil sector was extremely important for the Coordination Body, primarily projects involving youth, education and economic development in three municipalities from the Southern Serbia. "The Coordination Body will not be in position to support the civil sector project proposals until the coming January, but we hope that in 2009 we will start with financing of certain nongovernmental organisations", she announced.
Representative of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia in charge of inter-neighbouring cooperation, Maja Jovanović, explained at the Bujanovac gathering what had been done in scope of the neighbouring programme in so far. She said five public calls for submission of project proposals have been published to date and added that eligible to apply for the projects were local and regional authorities, public and communal enterprises, chambers of commerce, nongovernmental organisations, educational, cultural and research institutions, associations from areas of toursim, sports, culture, as well as other organisations.
See PP presentation of Maja Jovanović ( English version not available )
Representative of the EU Integration Office of the Serbian Government, Jelena Stevanov, talked about the model of cooperation between the EU Integration Office and civil society in Serbia. She said the insitutionalised relations between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and civil society were non-existent, adding that the Office had signed the Memorandum on Cooperation with the civil sector. In her view, the goal of this cooperation was not for the civil society in Serbia to be recognised solely as the participant in the EU integration process, but also as its owner. This process did not imply solely the EU membership but primarily reforming of Serbia that would lead to that membership, said Stevanov. What awaits Serbia is liberalisation of Visas, obtaining of the candidate status, decentralised implementation of the IPA funds resources and to achieve this, we will need extensive assistance from the civil sector, Stevanov pointed out.
See PP presentation of Jelena Stevanov ( English version not available )
President of the Regional Forum of the Slavonija and Baranja associations, Sonja Vuković, talked at this gathering about the challenges and examples of good practice in the context of Croatian experiences as the candidate country for the EU membership. She emphasised that the Forum comprised coalition of NGOs organised in a way to strengthen social capital and promote civic society values in the Slavonija region, aiming at intitiating cooperation among the CSOs, active participation in the process of development policies creation at national, regional and local levels, initiating and developing models of cooperation with public and private sectors, as well as advocating creation of infrastructure conditions for sustainable development of CSOs.
See power point presentation of Sonja Vuković
The European integrations were the topic of the round table held in Bujanovac, which was attended by around 60 representatives of nongovernmental organisations and national institutions. This event was organised by ABC Center for Peace from Vranje and Civic Initiatives, with the Bujanovac municipality Mayor welcoming its participants.
Round table on European integrations to be held on November 5th 2008 in Novi Sad
29.10.2008
Round table entitled "Building Partnerships between NGO and Public Administration in the EU Integration Process" will be held on Wednsday, November 5th 2008, from 11:00 to 14:30, in Room 1 of the AP Vojvodina Assembly.
The round table is organised by Civic Initiatives from Belgrade in cooperation with the AP Vojvodina Fund for Development of Non-profit Sector. "Citizens Dialogue for European Concensus" is name of the project implemented by Civic Initiatives in cooperation with the EU Integrations Fund, managed by the European Commission Delegation to Serbia, technically realised by Press Now. The objective of this project is raising awareness on importance of joining the European Union, dissemination of knowledge about the EU and integration process of specific social groups through education, dialogue initiation, exchange of information and good practice related to integration processes.
In scope of the project three conferences and 6 public debates on the topic of the EU accession and membership were planned to be organised throughout Serbia. At the Novi Sad round table, experiences of representatives of Poland, Croatia and Macedonia will be presented which were introduced at the First Conference held in Belgrade at the beginning of October 2008. Moreover, representatives of the Ministry of Finance and EU Integration Office of the Republic of Serbia, will present their experiences regarding cooperation between the State and nongovernmental organisations in the EU accession process, both at national and local levels. Following the presentations, discussion among the present representatives of domestic institutions, civil society, media and donors was planned to be held, as well as formulation of conclusions and recommendations for Serbia.
Round table on European integrations in Bujanovac
20.10.2008
Civic Initiatives, in cooperation with ABC Center for Peace, Security and Tolerance from Vranje, will organise on Friday, October 31st 2008, from 10:30 to 14:30, the round table "Building Partnerships between NGO and Public Administration in the EU Integration Process".
This round table is part of the project „Citizens' Dialogue for European Concensus", implemented by Civic Initiatives in cooperation with the EU Integrations Fund, managed by the European Commission Delegation to Serbia, technically realised by Press Now.
The objective of this project is raising awareness on importance of joining the European Union, dissemination of knowledge about the EU and integration process of specific social groups through education, dialogue initiation, exchange of information and good practice related to integration processes.
In scope of the project three conferences and 6 public debates on the topic of the EU accession and membership were planned to be organised throughout Serbia.
At the Bujanovac round table, experiences of representatives of Poland, Croatia and Macedonia will be presented which were introduced at the First Conference held in Belgrade at beginning of October 2008.
Following the presentations, discussion among the present representatives of domestic institutions, civil society, media and donors was planned to be held, as well as formulation of conclusions and recommendations for Serbia.
The First Conference on European Integrations Held
09.10.2008
Around 65 representatives of domestic and international institutions, nongovernmental organisations from the country and region, international organisations and donors, took part in work of the conference „Building Partnerships between NGO Sector and Public Administration in the EU Integration Process", organised by Civic Initiatives in cooperation with the EU Integrations Fund.
The conference was opened by the Civic Initiatives' Executive Director, Miljenko Dereta, who said that idea of this gathering was "for Serbia to learn through experiences of others how to undergo the necessary changes on its road towards the European Union". Dereta emphasised that the main objective of the project was exchange of experiences and knowledge with the candidates and members in the EU accession process.
"I expect the level of knowledge and awareness on possibilities for cooperation between nongovernmental organisations, public administration and media within the European integrations, as well as initiation of public dialogue, exchange of information and good practice principles in relation to the EU integrations", he stated and stressed that the EU accession process concerned all segments of life and that this dialogue was required in order for the European integration issue not to represent the exclusive right of the Government and political elites.
Director of the Center for European Strategy "demos EUROPA", Pawel Swieboda, talked about experiences of Poland in the process of the EU accession. Swieboda said that this country had passed through three levels within the integration process: alignment of a joint platform within the Polish authorities, negotiations with the EU officials and talks with and research of the Polish public opinion. He pointed out that besides thorough preparations for the EU accession, public administration needed to explain well to the citizens what the Union was, how it functioned and what was its significance. According to his words, the greatest challenge in the EU joining process was the support of the civil sector and all social partners. The partners in the accession process are, as he stated, trade unions, associations of employers and workers, NGOs, stakeholders and local authorities that will need to implement European legislation and standards. Reminding to the fact that the Polish people had the opportunity to voice their opinion on joining the EU at the referendum, Swieboda emphasised that social partners had the deciding influence in animation of the wide public.
See power point presentation of Pawel Swieboda
Director of the EU Integrations Office of the Serbian Government, Tanja Miščević, said that by the end of that day Serbian Government was supposed to adopt the National Programme for Serbia'a integration to the European Union. This is a strategic programming document on activities of Serbia and alignment of national legislation and practice with the standards existing in all EU negotiating processes, she said, adding that this document has passed public discussion and was about to become the Operating Programme of the Government for the following four years. Miščević pointed out that, unfortunately, institutionalised relations between Serbian Government and civil sector were non-existent. "When I say this, it does not mean I have ready-made solutions as regards how to align these issues, but we are opened for all kinds of advice, including our neighbours, because in this way we can learn a lot", she added. "Despite absence of institutionalised relations, we have signed the Memorandum on Cooperation with the civil sector. Same Memorandum was also signed with Universities in Serbia and Serbian Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, this Memorandum has not yet been signed with trade unions", said Miščević adding that "the objective of such cooperation was that the civil society in Serbia is not solely recognised as the participant, but also as owner of the EU integration process. This process does not only imply membership in the EU but reforms in Serbia that will lead to that membership", added Miščević. Serbia has three important plans for the coming years: liberalisation of Visas, obtaining of the candidate status, decentralised implementation of resources from IPA funds. Assistance of the civil sector is extremely important for us as regards development of the said plans", stressed Tanja Miščević.
Head of Information Department of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations, Pero Belišić, said that within the process of Croatia's accession to the EU, broad negotiating structure, has been established, including the nongovernmental sector. Belišić said that the Government formed the National Forum for the EU accession, involving NGO representatives in its operation. At the end of his brief presentation, Belišić said that at that momement, 60% of their citizens supported the EU accession, whereas around 38% was against it.
Manager of the Regional Development Agency of Slavonija and Baranja's project, Kornelija Mlinarević, talked about models for partner cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and civil society organisations, while the President of the Regional Forum of Slavonija and Baranja Associations, Sonja Vuković, presented challenges and good practice examples, but also experiences of Croatia as a candidate country for the EU membership. Experiences of Macedonia as a candidate country for membership with the EU were presented by the Balkan Network for Civil Society Development Coordinator, Tanja Hafner Ademi.
See power point presentation of Kornelija Mlinarević [ English version not available]
See power point presentation of Sonja Vuković
See power point presentation of Tanja Hafner Ademi
Director of the "Strategic Marketing" research, Svetlana Logar, presented results of the Serbian public opinion survey on the EU integrations. She said that Serbia's joining the European Union was supported by 74% of citizens. Logar added that more positive attitudes as regards the country entering the EU were registered in March, but still varying from month to month. According to her, ratification of the Stabilisation and Accession Agreement in June was supported by 54% of citizens, in July by 65%, in August 54%, whereas in September this number equalled 62% of citizens. She said although 55% of respondents did not know what this Agreement actually implied, majority agreed it would contribute to better life in Serbia (72% of respondents). Serbian citizens have also stated that the SAA and Energy Agreement with Russia, ratified on the same day by the Parliament, would have the same relevance for the future of Serbia.
See power point presentation of Svetlana Logar [ English version not available]
Conference "Building Partnership Relation between NGO Sector and Public Administration in the EU Integration Process" is a part of the broader programme entitled "CIDEC- Citizens' Dialogue for European Concensus" implemented by Civic Initiatives in cooperation with the EU Integrations Fund, managed by the European Commission Delegation to Serbia. The project duration is 12 months, in course of which, among other issues, holding of three more conferences was planned, with organisation of public debates on Serbia's accession to the EU throughout the country.
"Building Partnership between NGOs and Public Administration In the EU Integration Process"
01.10.2008
"Citizens Dialogue for European Consensus" is the title of Civic Initiatives project implemented in partnership with EU Integration Fund, manged by European Delegation Commission in Serbia, implemented by Press Now.
The aim of the project is to raise awareness about the importance of EU integration, spreading knowledge about EU and integration process among specific target groups in the society through education, initiation of dialogue, exchange of information and good practices concerning integration process.
Project lasts for 12 months and in addition to other activities, it covers 3 conferences and 6 public debates throughout Serbia with the topic of access and membership in the EU.
The first conference under the title "Building Partnership Between NGO and Public Administration in EU Integration Process" is scheduled for Thursday, October 9, 2008, from 9 to 14.30. It will be held in Hall 1 of Media Center, (Milentija Popovića 9) in Belgrade.
During the first conference, representatives from Poland, Croatia, Macedonia and Government of Serbia will present their experiences concerning EU accession process. We also expect representatives from 35 Serbian institutions, civil society organizations, donors and representatives of the EU countries.
You can find all information about projects implemented in Serbia by EU and about EU integration process on web site http://www.ear.europa.eu/.
This program has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Civic Initiatives and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union
