The 2nd meeting of the Joint Monitoring Committee was held on 25 Sep 2009

The 2nd meeting of the Joint Monitoring Committee was held in Belgrade, on 25 of September, on the occasion of the closing the first Call for Proposals for Cross-border Programme Serbia-Montenegro under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The meeting was attended by members of the Programme Joint Monitoring Committee, a representative of the European Commission Delegation (ECD) to the Republic of Serbia, as well as the members of technical assistance projects to the Operating structures in Serbia and Montenegro. Ms. Gordana Lazarevic, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Ratka Sekulovic, Assistant Minister the Ministry for European Integration of Montenegro and Mr. Luca Manunta, project manager in charge for CBC programmes in the European Commission Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, in their welcoming speeches stressed the importance of cross-border cooperation, as the second component of IPA financial instrument, pointing out the possibility of using IPA funds in countries which are not EU member states and do not have status of EU candidate countries. This program opens the possibility of erasing the borders as points of separation, so they can be used for connecting people in border areas. Cross-border programs are implemented using specific rules that give much greater autonomy compared to other programs funded by the EU. The mutual appreciation because of very good communication between the institutions in the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro is expressed, as well as a satisfaction with the results achieved. During the meeting the JTS staff presented the results of the first Call for proposals, activities related to the information and promotion of the Programme, statistics relating to the first Call for Proposals, as well as planned activities including the JTS Annual Work Plan. Importand decisions concerning Project proposals evaluation process have been made and initiative for redefining the Programme document have been accepted. Agenda, 2nd JMC Meeting List of participants, 2nd JMC Meeting List of participants, 2nd JMC Meeting "newsroom/photo-gallery/event/morfeo8#0 " 2nd JMC Meeting.