The office of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Brussels, located in the building of the Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union, was established with the aim of presenting, promoting and improving the economic, scientific, cultural, educational and touristic capacities of the AP of Vojvodina, as well as familiarization with the policies of the European Union adopted in Brussels, and relations to the regional level of government.

AP Vojvodina is recognized in Europe for its business environment that offers numerous benefits for successful business activities, as well as for its excellent universities and research institutions. According to the assessment of the “Financial Times”, i.e. its business publication (“fDi Intelligence“), Vojvodina was the first in the list of “European cities and regions of the future 2014/2015”, out of 54 medium-sized regions, in terms of effectiveness foreign investments, fourth among all European regions and cities according to the same criteria and fourth in Southern Europe in terms of strategy for attracting foreign investments, while in the competition “European Cities and Regions of the Future 2016/2017”, Vojvodina took seventh place out of 148 European regions in terms of strategy attracting foreign investments.

The cultural and natural diversity of AP Vojvodina contributes to its image outside the borders of the Republic of Serbia. The AP Vojvodina office in Brussels represents AP Vojvodina as a successful multicultural European region in the Republic of Serbia, where high standards are in force regarding the protection of the rights of national minorities – national communities. 26 national communities live in AP Vojvodina, with more than two million inhabitants. Six languages are in official use, which is the second most official language in Europe, right after the European Parliament. With 20,000 km² of agricultural land, AP Vojvodina realizes about 27% of the gross domestic product of the Republic of Serbia and about 40% of total exports.

On the European continent, regions, cities and municipalities are involved in the creation of most European Union policies. The level of government below the national level in the European Union is responsible for a third of public spending (about two thousand billion euros per year) and for two thirds of public investments (about two hundred billion euros), whereby they often take place in accordance with the legal regulations of the European Union.

AP Vojvodina has a built institutional system that includes the Assembly of AP Vojvodina with 120 deputies, the Provincial Government, provincial secretariats and other institutions that provide support for their functioning. On the territory of AP Vojvodina, there are numerous institutions that were founded by AP Vojvodina, and which exercise their competences in areas of importance for the province. The province has competences in the field of interregional cooperation; spatial planning, regional development and building construction; agriculture; water management; forestry; hunting and fishing; tourism, catering, spas and health resorts; environmental protection; industries and crafts; road, river and railway traffic; organizing fairs and other economic manifestations; education; sports; cultures; health and social protection; public information; science and technological development; employment; economy and privatization; mining and energy; local governments.

The AP Vojvodina office was established with the aim of enabling two-way communication with the regions present in Brussels and European institutions that standardize the work of the regional level of government in Europe. The main task of the AP Vojvodina Office in Brussels is to provide assistance to provincial institutions in the creation of AP Vojvodina policies, in accordance with European principles and practice.

In the early phase of European integration, the provincial administration should be familiar with the policies of the European Union that are implemented at the regional level, which, in accordance with the Law on Determining the Competencies of AP Vojvodina and other positive legal regulations, will enable the Republic of Serbia to – during the membership phase – in the European Union directly participates in decision-making within the existing European institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain direct contacts and communication with key decision makers and representatives of regional partners.

In this sense, the Office of AP Vojvodina in Brussels has the following tasks:

• representing the priorities of AP Vojvodina to the institutions of the European Union and regional representations,
• exchange of information in the field of European integration and EU regional policy,
• promotion of AP Vojvodina, especially promotion of AP Vojvodina as an investment region, as well as its tourist offer, with networking within the internationalization of universities, and cooperation in the field of culture, energy and environmental protection,
• creating a partnership in order to jointly create projects funded by the EU,
• informing and providing technical assistance regarding the possibilities of participation in EU programs in which the Republic of Serbia participates, and which are financed from the EU budget.

In addition, the Office of AP Vojvodina in Brussels will maintain contacts with organizations that bring the regions together, such as the Committee regions of the European Union, the Assembly of European Municipalities and Regions, the Assembly of European Regions, then think-thank organizations and other international organizations.

In cooperation with the Committee of the Regions, the Europe 2020 Strategy was translated into Serbian. Based on the mentioned strategy, AP Vojvodina developed the Development Program of AP Vojvodina 2014-2020 with the accompanying Action Plan.