Closing event of the Twinning project in Podgorica

27.02.2012

On Monday 27 February 2012, the official closing meeting marked the end of the Twinning Project „Support to Establish an IPA Rural Development Programming and Implementation System“.

The project, with a budget of € 1.5 million, was financed by the European Commission and lasted 25 months, until 29 February 2012.

The objective of the project was to enhance the rural development of Montenegro in line with the requirements of the Stabilization and Association Process and the adoption of the acquis communautaire.

When receiving the status of a candidate country for the membership in the European Union in mid-December 2010, Montenegro has acquired the right to use the funds from all five components of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance – IPA – of the European Union including component V: Rural Development.

The project purpose was to help create the strategic, institutional and legislative setup for the implementation of rural development policy in line with the requirements of the Instrument for Pre-Accession for Rural Development (IPARD) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The project activities have been implemented through 950 expert days by involving more the 63 different Austrian, French, Slovakian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Slovenian experts coming from public institutions involved in agricultural and rural development policy implementation.

Within the expert missions the colleagues from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development got acquainted with IPARD and they were trained to carry out their future tasks.

The following results were achieved:

Preparation of an IPARD Programme in line with the European Commission Rules
Drafting of legal baseline for IPARD
Preparation for the national accreditation of the Operating Structure such as Managing Authority and Sector for Payments – future IPARD Agency
Transfer of know how to the beneficiary institutions through practical trainings

The project was of great importance for Montenegro in the framework of the preparation for EU accession process.

One of the most successful results of the project was the preparation of the IPARD programme for Montenegro beside the definition and setting up of the Operating Structure (Managing Authority and Sector for Payments – future IPARD Agency) for IPARD as well as the elaboration of the first outline of the accreditation package for the Operating Structure.

Trainings for all staff of the OS, the Advisory Service and the NF were implemented by carrying out training on the job. During an intensive training session in December 2011, simulations on a real investment example were carried out.

During study tours to Austria and Slovak Republic best practice was shown to the participants concerning the practical implementation of EU Agriculture and RD Policy. It was also shown the relations and interlinkages with other Ministries, mainly the Ministry of Finance. Other relevant subjects were the general administrative provisions and procedures covering the whole Paying Agency’s functions including On the Spot Control and the interconnection with NF.

The Minister Mr. Tarzan Milosevic and the Assistant Minister Mr. Igor Golubovic thanked at the Closing Event the Twinning partners for the active support and the fruitful collaboration during the whole project implementation.












Twinning closing meeting in Podgorica,
Project Leaders, Junior Project Leaders,
RTA, Minister and Ambassador