The Meeting was moderated by two JCC Co-Chairs, Mr. DimitriosKalogeropoulos, on behalf of CoR, and Mr. DejanJovanović, on behalf of the Republic of Serbia. The meeting was organized in two consecutive sessions: 1) An Update on EU-Serbian Relations and 2) EU Local and Regional Authorities Experience in Using Structural and Cohesion Funds: Transposing Lessons to Pre-Accession Funds. The speakers within the First Thematic Session were Ambassador Ms Ana Hrustanović, Head of Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union, Mr. Ivan Bošnjak, State Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government of the Republic of Serbia and Mr. Christos Makridis, Deputy Head of Unit for Serbia, Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) of the European Commission.  The speakers within the Second Thematic Session were: Mr. Jean-Pierre Halkin, Head od Unit for Macro-Regions, Transnational/International Cooperation, IPA, Enlargement of the European Commission’s Directorate-General Regional and Urgan Policy, Mr. Ognjen Bjelić, Provincial Secretary for Regional Development, Interregional Cooperation and Local Self-Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia and member of the JCC, Mr. Petr Osvald, Member of CoR, and Mr. SašaDjordjević, Mayor of Municipality Gadžin Han in Serbia, Alternate Member of the JCC.

The participants at the meeting agreed in their assessment that Serbiais leader in the region, in terms of economic reforms being implemented in the country. It was noted that it is necessary to maintain the existing rate, where cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and CoR can significantly contribute, especially at the level of local and regional authorities.