Project support for EU accession negotiations
EU and Serbia began the discussion regarding membership in October 2005 and a formal application was made by Serbia in December 2009. Since then EU-approximation is high priority for Serbia.
The formal negotiations regarding Serbia’s membership in the European Union started in January 2014. Serbia has successfully passed the Chapter 27 bilateral screening and, at the end of 2016, received invitation to submit the Negotiating Position. The environment chapter was open for negotiations. Support provided by the Swedish EPA through ENVAP2 project has contributed significantly to this positive outcome of the screening.
Environment Accession Project 3 (ENVAP3)
The project started September 1, 2016 and will last until August 31, 2020. The project aims to strengthen the responsible Ministry's ability to manage the EU accession processes on the environment and to effectively prepare for and participate in the upcoming accession negotiations for Chapter 27.
The project focuses on three components:
- Support to negotiations
- Support regarding communication of negotiation related issues for Chapter 27
- Support to Serbian EPA (SEPA) in management of environmental information for Chapter 27 negotiations.
The project began with a planning phase in autumn 2016 and has resulted in an inception report. The report contains an assessment and update of the situation for each of the three components. It also describes the activities carried out during the inception phase and the activities planned for the future.
Finnished projects
Preparations for negotiations related to the accession process in the EU (ENVAP1 and ENVAP2)
The Swedish EPA has supported Serbia's preparations for the forthcoming EU accession negotiations since 2011 through Environment Accession Project 1 and 2 (ENVAP1 and ENVAP2). The projects have been successful and Serbia has wished to continue the cooperation.
National strategy for sustainable use of natural resources
In 2010 The Swedish E PA together with the Ministry of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning (MEMSP) started a project to complete the strategy for sustainable use of natural resources. The strategy was adopted by the Serbian Government in March 2012. The project was finalized during 2012.