The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia invites representatives of the media to the official ceremony awarding grants 32 civil society organisations and 25 media organizations which will take place on Friday, June 18th 2010, in the Sava Center (main/ceremonial entrance, conference room 1b) at 12.00 hours.

The grants to the civil society and media have been awarded within the EU-funded projects ‘Strengthening of Serbia-EU Civil Society Dialogue’ and ‘Support for Media Capacity in the Area of EU Integration’ providing 5,3 million EUR in total for the support to these two main pillars of democracy.

Speakers at the press conference will be: H.E. Ambassador Mr. Vincent Degert, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Nebojša Bradić, Minister of Culture in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and Mrs. Milica Delević, Director of the EU Integration Office, Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Ambassador Degert said: "Media and civil society represent the so-called third sector whose activities and achievements when it comes to European integration are most felt at the grass root level of the population.

For the EU, these two players have a crucial role because they are there to explain and spread the objective, unbiased and realistic information about what the process of European integration bring to the citizens and how the process will benefit their every day lives. I believe that the 57 projects we are awarding today will enhance the knowledge of the Serbian population about the European integration process and help them understand and support the process that is going on."

A total of €3.5 million has been granted to 32 civil society organizations (CSO) for the implementation of projects which focus on networking, strengthening cooperation, exchange of knowledge and best practices between CSOs from the EU and Serbia.

Main areas of intervention are: citizens participation in making and monitoring public policies, protection of consumers rights, fight against corruption and grey economy, raising professional standards, public-private partnership, empowering entrepreneurship, environmental protection, rural development, applying EU standards in non-formal education, youth active participation, protection of vulnerable groups and social policy, etc.

In the media field, a total of 25 media outlets were selected to benefit from €1.8 million grant fund that will enable them to concentrate on the development of professional programmes and articles, focussing on EU integration issues in an attractive format illustrated by real people, giving ordinary citizens of Serbia a much greater insight into how future EU membership will impact on their own, individual lives.

All media are represented among the grantees - print, news agencies, radio and TV from cities and municipalities across the whole of Serbia, from Novi Sad in the North to Bujanovac and Vranje in the South, Zajecar in the East and Uzice in the West.

From a range of subjects as diverse as people trafficking, rural poverty, religious tolerance and regional development, the Serbian audience will be able to share the experience of people who already know what it means to be in the European Union as a way to measure their own aspirations through an equally diverse range of formats including documentaries, docudrama, illustrated talk shows and special newspaper supplements.

The project ‘Strengthening Serbia-EU Civil Society Dialogue’ (September 2009 – September 2010) aims at developing a sustainable civil society dialogue between Serbia and EU member states.

The project is funded by the European Union and managed by the Delegation of EU to the Republic of Serbia while the technical assistance for its implementation was awarded to GOPA Consultants. It is implemented through a call for proposals launched on November 30th 2009 and closed on March 2nd 2010.

The amount of 3.5 million EUR in total (IPA 2007 and IPA 2008 funds) is allocated within the Civil Society Fund for the support to the civil society organisations. After the assessment of 174 applications submitted, 32 proposals have been selected to be financed within the Civil Society Fund.

The grants are between EUR 50,000 and EUR 150,000 while the duration of the supported projects will be between 8 and 12 months.

All selected grantees are civil society organisations: civil society organisation networks, non-government organisations, professional organisations, consumer associations, chambers of commerce, associations of entrepreneurs and other social actors.

The awarded applicants are from Serbia (27), Bulgaria (2), Italy (1), Czech Republic (1) and Great Britain (1).

The selected actions focus on networking, strengthening cooperation, exchange of knowledge and best practices between CSOs from EU and Serbia.

Main areas of intervention are: citizens participation in making and monitoring public policies, protection of consumers rights, fight against corruption and grey economy, raising professional standards, public-private partnership, empowering entrepreneurship, environmental protection, rural development, applying EU standards in non-formal education, youth active participation, protection of vulnerable groups and social policy, etc.

‘Support to Media Capacity in the Area of European Integration’ is a Serbian Ministry of Culture project, managed by the EU Delegation and implemented by BBC World Service Trust. The project is financed under IPA 2008 media programme and will be implemented throughout 2010 and 2011.

The overriding goal of this project is to strengthen the ability of the Serbian media to cover all aspects of European Union integration. The project’s wider objective is to contribute to the transformation of Serbia’s public conversation about EU integration and the country’s prospective candidacy, while at the same time bringing Serbia’s professional media sector in line with European best practice.

The project is implemented through a call for proposals, launched by the EU Delegation to Serbia in October and closed on 11 December 2009. The overall indicative amount made available within the European Integration Media Fund is 1.8 million EUR.

A total of 90 project proposals were received in response to the call out of which 25 have been selected for financing. Grants awarded under this project are between 20.000 and 100.000 EUR with a maximum duration of 12 months.

The 25 media outlets chosen to win grants will be able to concentrate on the development of professional programmes and articles, focussing on presenting EU integration issues in an attractive format illustrated by real people, giving ordinary citizens of Serbia a much greater insight into how future EU membership will impact on their own, individual lives.