On 30^th of November 2017 at the Klub poslanika, the Serbian Ministry of Environmental Protection, the European Union and project partners the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt), Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) and Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania marked the opening of an EU Twinning project – Support to Waste Management Policy.

Opening speeches were given by Mr. Goran Trivan, Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Mateja Norčič Štamcar, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Dušan Čarkić, Acting Assistant Minister, Ministry of Finance – CFCU, H.E. Jan Lundin, Ambassador of Sweden, and high representatives from the Embassies of Austria and Lithuania.

As part of the requirements of Chapter 27 of the EU accession negotiations, Serbia has to harmonize its national legislation with European legislation. The Republic of Serbia, as a candidate country of the EU, must take necessary measures to ensure efficient implementation and enforcement of the EU environmental Acquis.

It is foreseen that the twinning project lasts for 24 months. The project is funded by the EU with 1,500,000 Euros through IPA assistance, and co-funded by the Government of Serbia, with aim to assist the Serbian administration to effectively manage EU integration and pre-accession assistance in order to speed up preparations for the EU membership.

The twinning project will be implemented by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, Environment Agency of Austria (Umweltbundesamt) as a lead member state partner, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) and Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, as junior member states partners. A team of experts from different Member States countries will work together with the Serbian colleagues to transfer know-how and EU best practices in the field. The project will involve a number of stakeholders, including central and local public authorities, universities, industry, professional associations and civil society organizations, through bilateral meetings, seminars, workshops and study tours.

The project purpose is the development and improvement of waste management in the Republic of Serbia, by completing the strategic and legislative framework of required sector specific planning documents in line with the EU Acquis.

Results of the project will be built upon the outputs of other parallel projects in this field which have already been implemented or are ongoing, taking into account that significant progress has already been made in the waste management sector.

The following results will be delivered within a project in a two years period:

• Developed National Waste Management Strategy, which presents the fundamental document for long-term definition and direction of waste management. The new Waste Management Strategy will be developed to cover period from 2019 – 2024.
• Developed National Waste Management Plan, asintegral part of the Waste Management Strategy and its content will be developed in line with requirements of Serbian Law on Waste Management.
• Developed National Waste Prevention Programme, will be done in view of preventing negative impacts that economic growth may have on the environment.
• Developed set of economic instruments for implementation plan of Municipal Solid Waste. In order to improve the current situation in waste management, the existent system will be reorganized and new economic instruments will be introduced.

Project results are expected to lead to better management of waste in Serbia. This will result, among other, in more effective recovery and recycling of valuable waste components, better protection of the environment and people against hazardous substances and  therefore an overall improvement of  the quality of life of Serbian citizens. The project results will also assist Serbia in better preparation for the EU accession negotiating process with the EU for the Chapter 27, Environment and Climate change.