The project “Speak European” promoted in Novi Sad

In cooperation with the British Council and the EU Integration Office, the European Affairs Fund-AP Vojvodina has organised a presentation on the project “Speak European“, which has attracted the interest of a number of institutions and municipalities in Vojvodina.

“Practice has shown that some municipalities encountered a problem when they had to display knowledge of some EU sector policies in the process of project writing to apply for EU funds. The programme presented today aims at bridging this gap. Namely, 22 October 2010 is the deadline for submission of applications for over 180 training scholarships to some key European institutions, such as the College of Europe in Bruges and the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht, and in addition, 20 candidates will have the opportunity to do an internship at public institutions all over Europe. The project is worth over €2.5 million, and the first training sessions will be held between January and July 2011. Those who are eligible to apply are civil servants at different levels of authorities, from local level, through provincial, to republic level. The fields in which the training is to be realised are defined by the strategic priorities of our country, which are the following: regional development, rural and industrial policy, social service sector, environmental protection sector, innovation, traffic, whilst the field of special importance is training in financial sector, especially in budget planning and management during the implementation of EU projects, at all levels, from municipalities to cities and provincial institutions”, said Predrag Novikov, director of European Affairs Fund-AP Vojvodina. Among all invited municipalities of Vojvodina, those who expressed interest in training their human resources were the cities of Novi Sad, Subotica, Zrenjanin and Sombor; the municipalities of Bač, Bačka Palanka, Odžaci, Bečej, Sremski Karlovci and Irig. Further information about the programme or assistance in application submission can be provided by the European Affairs Fund-AP Vojvodina, Master Centar Novosadskog sajma, Hajduk Veljkova 11, Entrance 5, Floor 6.