State Secretary of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, Čedomir Rakić, participated in the session of the Joint Consultative Regional Committee Board of the EU and the Republic of Serbia, where they discussed sustainable recovery from the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the role of local self-governments in Serbia’s EU accession process.
This is the first meeting of the Committee held after a one-year break caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, and at which guidelines for the work this body shall be doing in the next five years have been agreed upon, and the effects caused by the pandemic at the regional and local level shall be considered.
State Secretary Rakić expressed the Ministry’s full commitment to the work of the Joint Consultative Regional Committee Board of the EU and the Republic of Serbia, bearing in mind that the European integration process is Serbia’s foreign policy priority, and public administration reform is one of the pillars of the European integration process.
“The common task of the Committee, but also of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, is to help promote dialogue and cooperation between local and regional authorities of the EU and Serbia, which is also a preparation for the participation of our local and regional authorities in the work of the EU Committee of the Regions after joining the European Union,” Rakić said.
Speaking at the part of the session dedicated to the sustainable recovery from the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Rakić reminded of the messages sent by the Committee members from the meeting held in November 2019, when the importance of eGovernment and the digitalization reform was pointed out, the one which proved to be important and necessary for the functioning of the state and crisis management at the time of the pandemic outbreak. He informed the Committee about the steps that Serbia has taken in response to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus and the effects that the reforms that have been implemented so far have had on saving the lives of the country’s population and its economy.
“Thanks to the reforms implemented in previous years, the state set aside almost 12.5 percent of the GDP as direct aid to citizens and the economy, with the goal of reducing the negative effects caused by the pandemic.” In addition, Serbia has shown that it is one of the world leaders in the process of vaccinating the population against the Covid-19 virus, but it has also shown solidarity and humanity, which are fundamental European values, by donating equipment and vaccines to neighbors in the region, which the country will continue to do in the future,” Rakić said.
He stated that Serbia as a society has shown that all the reforms it is implementing and will implement are not only aimed at fulfilling the criteria for EU accession, but they also serve the citizens of Serbia, so that the state would become a service to its citizens, which is in line with the recently adopted new Public Administration Reform Strategy, whose motto is ADMINISTRATION MADE-TO-MEASURE FOR ALL OF US – administration tailored to the needs of citizens and the economy.
“One should not forget that, at no time did any segment of our society halt, and that no category of the population was left behind in this crisis, especially those that are the most endangered. We have shown that we possess, but also apply the values on which the EU is based, and we will continue to reform our society, and especially our public administration, “concluded State Secretary Rakić.
Today’s session of the Joint Consultative Board of the Committee of the Regions of the EU and the Republic of Serbia was chaired by Co-Chair Franz Schausberger, representative of the Salzburg Parliament, and Dragana Sotirovski, mayor of Niš, and in addition to the representatives of Serbian and European institutions, Vladimir Bilčik, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia, also spoke at the session.
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