Serbia to Get Aid of EUR 8 Million for Green Agenda Within IPA 2020

The head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, has announced that, for the realization of the “Green Agenda in Serbia” program, EUR 8 million will be set aside within IPA 2020, in three phases.

– In the first phase, it will be EUR 6 million, which we are carrying out with the UNDP, then EUR 800,000 with the EIB in the upcoming weeks, and then the final phase, which we will commence at the end of this year – Giaufret said at the conference “EU for Green Agenda in Serbia”, held at the Government of Serbia.

He specified that the agenda encompassed the fields of the EU green agreement, decarbonization, pollution reduction, upgrade of agricultural production, which, he said, will also be encompassed by the program that has been launched.

Giaufret pointed out that the activities within the Green Agenda in Serbia program followed the great news about the opening of Cluster 5, concerning transport, energy, living environment and climate, which means that, in practice, the phase of big negotiations about harmonizing the Serbian legislation with that of the EU in these fields was being commenced.

He explained that the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans was part of the European investment plan for the region and that Serbia had adopted the agenda at the Sofia Summit in 2020 and then the Action Plan in October 2021.

Exploitation of lithium

When asked about how the EU sees the issue of the exploitation of lithium and why Germany or Poland are not doing so, even though they have bigger reserves than Serbia, Giaufret emphasized that it was up to the national governments to make decisions on which projects they want on a national level.

– The EU expects the countries to lean on the existing regulations when it comes to the participation of the public and waste disposal too. We believe that the Jadar project could offer good conditions for local economic development, provided that all environmental protection standards are honored – Giaufret emphasized.

The head of the EU Delegation to Serbia added that he supported the Serbian government to work with partners in supply chains.

A separate ministry?

The minister of mining and energy of Serbia, Zorana Mihajlovic, estimated that Serbia would secure long-term energy stability through the use of renewable energy sources more quickly if it had a ministry for green transition and energy efficiency.

Delegacija Evropske unije u Republici Srbiji Beograd

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

UNDP Beograd

Evropska investiciona banka EIB

EU Delegation to Serbia

UNDP

EIB

Ministry of Mining and Energy

Emanuele Giaufret

Zorana Mihajlovic

Green Agenda in Serbia

EU for Green Agenda in Serbia

EU green agreement

decarbonization

pollution reduction

improvement of agricultural production

Western Balkans Green Agenda

Sofia Summit

Action Plan

exploitation of lithium

Jadar project

Cluster 4

ministry for green transition and energy efficiency