Workshop for members of the Negotiation Group on Competition

In the organisation of the project Support to the Commission for State Aid Control, a workshop for members of the Negotiation Group on Competition (Chapter 8 – Competition Policy) was held in Belgrade, on Wednesday, 11 December 2019.

The workshop was opened by the chairman of the Negotiation Group, Mr. Vladimir Antonijević, who presented the current state of play regarding negotiation Chapter 8, i.e. the status of opening benchmarks for the Chapter 8. Six opening benchmarks have been set for the opening of the Chapter 8, and Serbia has so far met three.

Project experts from Lithuania and Croatia presented the experiences of these two EU Member States in the area of ​​negotiation Chapter 8. Mrs. Agne Richard spoke about Republic of Lithuania’s experience in the EU negotiation process, while Mrs. Olgica Spevec shared the challenges Republic of Croatia faced during the negotiations in Chapter 8, as well as relevant recommendations.

Another project expert, Mrs. Justina Palauskaite spoke about the implementation of state aid rules after Lithuania’s accession to the European Union. A special part of the workshop was devoted to the importance of raising awareness of state aid control, which was discussed with the members of the Negotiation Group by the expert Mrs. Olgica Spevec.

The workshop was organised by the project Support to the Commission for State Aid Control, as the sixth one since the project’s implementation started in February 2019. The workshops are aimed at different stakeholders and involve experts from EU Member States to share best practices' experiences.