Hungary is a leading student in the EU’s EGTC policy. From the 64 groupings that were registered until the end of 2016, 23 groupings have Hungarian membership and the headquarters of 19 groupings are located in our country. Although, we cannot consider that all the EGTCs do high quality work, but they totally implemented a development of 24 million euros in the border regions between 2008, when the first EGTC was established, and 2015, partly due to the government’s supportive policy. In many cases, they effectively contribute to alleviate the separating effects of nation-state borders.
Hungary was the first country that helped to establish the first association within the Union that has a non-EU member country, namely the Tisza EGTC (established by the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Council, city of Kisvárda and the Zakarpattia Oblast). That means there is only Serbia, from the neighbouring seven countries, where the necessary legal background is not available to establish this kind of association. Serbia ratified the Framework Convention of Madrid in the early 2016 (among the last members of the Council of Europe); however, framing up of the implementation rules are delayed.
Hungarian experiences, the Hungarian model could significantly help to our southern neighbour in order to make the missing steps, thus allowing to build Serbian relationships of the already established Banat-Triplex Confinium and the EGTCs that will be established in the future.
Therefore, in the framework of the project we will initiate the development of the necessary legislative background and its delivery to the Serbian authorities. Implementation is helped that CESCI Balkans, as the initiative of our Association, was established in 2015 with headquarter in Novi Sad. CESCI Balkans performs its activities in professional relationship with the ministries in Belgrade.
Planned activities of the project element:
- exploring and analysing the Serbian legal environment and legislation that ratified the Framework Convention of Madrid;
- consultation about the legislation on implementation with the competent Serbian authorities;
- organization of an international conference about the EGTC regulation and its Hungarian applications in Belgrade;
- to elaborate a legislative proposal in order to implement the EGTC regulation in Serbia.