Photo Credit: European Integration Office of Serbia

EFB Felow presented her Fellowship Follow-Up Presentation and Comparative Analysis at the European Integration Office of Serbia

The European Fund for the Balkans’s Fellowship Programme for Government Officials as a 3-months practice-oriented educational programme for public officials, includes the follow-up presentations of the Fellow’s experience in the host institutions in the EU as a integral part of the whole methodology. That final segment of the curriculum adds up to the idea of an exchange of know-how between the Western Balkans state institutions and the respective institutions in EU where the Fellows spend their practice. In that regard, one of the fellows from the Fellowship Generation 2014/2015, Dina Momcilovic Balaban, Advisor at the Department for International Cooperation, European Integration Division, shared her presentation about her 3-months work in the Ministry of Finance in Portugal and the comparative analysis of the coordination of the European Affairs in France and Portugal. In organisation of the European Integration Office and the Ministry of Finance of Republic of Serbia, she shared her experience and gained skills during her fellowship practice in the Ministry of Finance of Portugal, with her colleagues from her ministry and the representatives from the other ministries. - The EFB Fellowship programme was a unique opportunity to be introduced with the colleagues from the state administrations from the Western Balkans region, who are involved in the similar work thematic in the their respective countries and ministries. Moreover, thanks to the work in the Ministry of Finance of Portugal, I established a cooperation with experts from the customs, tax administration and international cooperation. Through the field work, I managed to apply the acquired knowledge and comprehend the importance of the inter-institutional cooperation. I believe that we will provide a platform for cooperation for the experts from Serbia and Portugal, through the different programmes, so that Serbia could adopt and realise all the EU regulations in the different areas in the most efficient manner – said Momcilovic Balaban. The Fellowship Programme for Government Officials, continues with the building of the capacities of the individuals from the Western Balkans’ public administrations, who are acting as agents of change upon their return in their home institutions. As participants in this EFB Programme, they also become members of the EFB Community and continue to act through the wide WB and EU network The new 20 Fellows for the Generation 2015/2016 have been chosen, and the whole process of preparations for the placements in the EU Institutions and the seminars has already commenced. The new cycle will start at the end of August, with the Introductory Seminar in Berlin and Potsdam.