On 30th of May 2017 at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, the European Union and project partners the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt) and Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) Germany marked the successful completion of an EU Twinning project – Improvement of hazardous waste management in the Republic of Serbia.
Opening speeches were given by Mr. Aleksandar Vesic, Assistant minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Richard Masha, representative of Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, representatives from the Embassy of Austria and Embassy of Germany, Mr. Dušan Čarkić – Acting Assistant Minister – Ministry of Finance, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes and other representatives from Serbian, Austrian and German administration.
As part of the requirements of Chapter 27 of the EU accession negotiations, Serbia has to harmonise its national legislation with European legislation. The area of waste management presents particular challenges when it comes to coverage and capacities for basic services such as collection, transport and disposal of waste, as well as lack of infrastructure for treatment and disposal of hazardous waste.
The 2 year-long twinning project, funded by the EU with 1,000,000 Euros through IPA assistance, and co-funded by the Government of Serbia, aimed to assist Serbia to meet environmental standards through institutional building and improvement of environmental infrastructure.
The twinning project was implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection in partnership with the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt) and Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) Germany. A team of 39 experts both from Austria and Germany worked with the Serbian colleagues to transfer know-how and EU best practices in the field. The project involved a series of stakeholders, including central and local public authorities, industry and civil society organisations, through bilateral meetings, 4 seminars and 12 workshops all over the Serbia.
In order to complete the process of legislation development and strategic planning the project achieved all foreseen results and outputs.

Analysis of Serbian legislation about specific waste streams has been done and followed by recommendations which are included in 8 by-laws developed within the project
Study on the institutional organization of hazardous waste management system in Serbia has been done and recommendation for improvement of current waste management systems is given, based on best practices that cover 3 EU member states.
An Integrated hazardous waste management plan is developed. Integrated plan consolidates all specific hazardous waste streams plans developed within this, but also within IPA 2008 project as well as hazardous waste from industry. This Integrated plan will serve as a basis for development of the new Strategy for the waste management.

Training needs analysis and corresponding training plan have been implemented through 3 seminars improving the knowledge and skills of the representatives from the local authorities in the field of hazardous waste management. To ensure the sustainability of proper hazardous waste management at the local level a Guideline had been prepared in Serbian language.

Study visits in Germany, Austria and Romania were organized and attended by 30 representatives of Serbian public administration. Study tours helped to representatives of Serbian administration to exchange technical, practical and theoretical information and experience with the colleagues from the EU Member States, as well as companies dealing with the waste management.

The project results will assist Serbia in better preparation for the EU accession negotiating process with the EU for the Chapter 27, Environment and Climate change. Also, project results will provide better management of hazardous waste which will improve health and quality of life of serbian citizens, as well as safer foreign and domestic investments .