On Friday, 21 April 2017, the University Business Academy hosted a workshop on “The Harmonization of Serbian Legislation With the European Union Acquis”, as part of the Jean Monnet module entitled: “Serbia's Accession to the EU”, approved for funding by the European Commission, or more precisely: The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

The main objective of the workshop was to familiarize government officials and public employees in provincial and local institutions with the obligations undertaken by Serbia under the Stabilization and Association Agreement as of 29 April 2008 regarding the harmonization of legislation with the EU acquis. With regard to that, the participants were introduced to the subject matter and objectives of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, namely the specific areas where harmonization of legislation is envisaged, deadlines for harmonization, as well as the relevant EU regulations and their interpretation and application in the EU.

Prof. Marijana Carić Ph.D., President of the Council of University Business Academy in Novi Sad, welcomed the participants of the workshop. After the welcoming words, Prof. Marijana Carić emphasized the need for organizing such workshops, particularly within the context of lifelong learning requirements. "I think that these workshops are necessary especially in the field of law. I do not wish to imply anything by comparing it to other fields, but we all know how critically important law is in any organized society. With these workshops, we try to supplement the education which all these people, our workshop participants, have completed during the course of their undergraduate, master’s, perhaps even doctoral studies; because I’m sure they all need to improve their knowledge in the field of EU law, especially if we talk about Serbia's accession to the EU. We have already had several lectures related to the Jean Monnet module within the Erasmus plus program. I must say that our University or precisely the Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management is the only one in Serbia to have received funds for that purpose"- said Dr. Carić, adding that this is just one of the many activities of the University Business Academy taking place outside the realm of this project. Dr. Carić particularly emphasized the accredited master study program on the economic and legal studies of the EU, which was conceptualized as a master’s program open for up to 30 students each year.

Prof. Vladimir Medović Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management and Project Manager of the Jean Monnet module called “Serbia's Accession to the EU”, conducted by the University Business Academy, commented on the workshop:

"The workshop on the harmonization of Serbian legislation with the EU acquis is intended for employees in the provincial administration and local governments. One of the objectives of the Jean Monnet module is to encourage dialogue between the academic community and the state, which includes policy makers, government officials and employees in the public administration, in order to strengthen the administrative capacity of Serbia for the implementation of harmonized legislation with the EU acquis. We are currently somewhere at the beginning with regard to this matter. Some laws have been harmonized with the EU regulations, but what is missing is their proper and timely implementation. It is not enough to just formally enact legislation and harmonize legislation with the EU acquis. As a matter of fact, the EU actually requires that at the time of accession to the EU, Serbia is capable of proper and timely implementation of these regulations. For example, Serbia has committed itself to formally align its legislation with the EU regulations on competition. Thus, now we have the Law on Protection of Competition which prohibits restrictive agreements, the abuse of a dominant position and forbids state aid. Precisely that is the area where we see that we have the most problems with the state aid being given to companies that are in financial difficulties or are "losers", as a practice which is prohibited by the regulations adopted by Serbia in line with the Stabilization and Association Agreement. In this area we do have regulations, but what we are missing is their correct application".

By the way, this was the second of the three workshops envisaged within the scope of the Jean Monnet module. The first one was held in the winter of 2015 for employees in the media and was devoted to the role of the media in the process of Serbia’s accession to the EU. This was the second workshop, devoted to the harmonization of Serbian legislation with the EU regulations, and intended for the representatives of state administration, while the third workshop is yet to come and will be held next year. Its target group will be members of the NGOs and the main topic will be the protection of fundamental human rights, again within the context of Serbia’s accession to the EU.