22 000 euro for 6 projects of young serbian researchers and journalists

April 7, 2010 - Six projects of young researchers and journalists from Serbia will receive 22 000 euro from the Slovak Serbian EU Enlargement Fund. All supported projects will zoom in Slovakia’s experience from the pre-accession period.

The selected projects gained the support within the first call of the grant-oriented project “Experience of Slovakia for Serbia’s integration in the EU – grant programme for young analysts and journalists” implemented by the Pontis Foundation in cooperation with the Serbian Center for Democracy Foundation. The second call is to be announced in the autumn 2010.

The Evaluation Board composed of representatives of the Pontis Foundation, Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry, Serbian European Integration Office, Center for Democracy (Serbia) a International and Security Affairs Centre (Serbia) considered 41 project proposals which fulfilled all formal conditions. Originality of the topic and approach to it, relevance for the public policy debate, impact on the target group identified in the project, of the draft project, its feasibility and applicant’s expertise and capacity decided which projects were the most successful ones. Within the project, young analysts can carry out part of their research in Slovakia.

Five projects aim to present a study on concrete fields of Serbia’s EU integration accompanied by recommendations for state and public administration bodies and other stakeholders. The scheme will support also a media project focusing on publishing articles about reforms which Slovakia implemented also in relation to its entry in the EU and which could serve as an inspiration for Serbia on its way in the European Union.

The project is financed by the Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation from the official development aid (SlovakAid) funding.

Experiences from Slovakia: the use of pre-accession funds in the area of consumer protection and the internal coordination of state organs and civil society institutions in this field  - APOS (Association of Consumers of Serbia),  3927,- €.

Food Safety Improvement and Labeling of Traditional Meat Processed Products which Come from Farms, Micro and Small Enterprises in Serbia: Toward the Food Safety Standards of EU Experience of Slovak Republic - Center for rural development and environment protection  EKO AGRAR , 4688,- €.

Absorption Capacity of Serbia for usage of EU Funds-practical lessons from Slovakia – European Movement in Serbia , 3 090,- €.

Attracting and directing Foreign Direst Investments – example of  Slovakia in the EU enlargement - University of Novi Pazar ,3 830,- €.

Coordination of social and employment policy shaping and implementation in the context of European integration: Challenges for Serbia and Slovakia’s model for effective fulfillment of an EU candidate country’s obligations – Ivan Sekulovic , 3030,- €.

The role of structural reforms related to pensions, labor law and taxation in accelerating European integrations of Slovakia: a possible example for Serbia? - Stevan Veljovic, 3 360,- €.