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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

State, civilian sector cooperate to solve environmental issues

Belgrade, 21 September 2010

Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic said today that Serbia has made significant progress in environmental protection, pointing out the importance of results in this remit for the EU integration process.

Oliver Dulic, Vincent Degert and Milica Delevic

Author: Fonet

At a press conference, at which the “Civilian Society in Serbia in the EU Integration Process: Adopting Values and Improving Dialogue” project was presented, Dulic underlined the importance of establishing better cooperation between the government and the NGO sector regarding these issues.

NGOs and our citizens have made a huge contribution in the large-scale environmental campaign to clean Serbia, held in June, the Minister recalled specifying that over 200,000 citizens and 1,002 NGOs participated in it.

The Ministry earmarked RSD 80 million for projects on environmental protection, for which NGOs can apply, he said.

Dulic explained that the funds will be distributed for submitted projects, and an expert committee will decide which are the important ones and designed to help protect the environment.

The Minister recalled that over the past two years over 30 laws and 200 bylaws concerning environmental protection have been adopted, noting that this is a historic step forward.

Director of the EU Integration Office Milica Delevic noted that the executive authorities should engage organisations of the civilian society to cooeprate on their path to the EU, stressing that laws should not only be adopted, but also implemented.

Delevic announced that the Office will continue endorsing projects aimed at improving environmental protection.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert declared that Serbia has made considerable progress in the environmental protection sector.

Investment is needed in order to improve this sector, which is why the EU invested €500 million over the past ten years for projects in this remit, he added.