Twinning project "Further strengthening of consumer protection in Serbia in the new market conditions" is financed by the European Union with a budget of 1.5 million euros.
The project provides support to institutions relevant to consumer protection in the Republic of Serbia in harmonizing consumer protection legislation with the current legislative framework of the European Union, strengthening capacity for cross-border cooperation in implementing consumer protection legislation, further developing out-of-court dispute resolution, improving cooperation between consumer associations and local self-government and raising consumer and retailer awareness of the new challenges posed by expanding e-commerce.
Twinning is a pre-accession instrument for institution building with the support of the European Union and is based on partnership cooperation between the state administrations of the member states and the candidate country (beneficiary). The goal is to strengthen the administrative and professional capacities of users, ie to fulfill obligations in the process of negotiations on accession to the European Union.
The project is implemented through a partnership between the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, the European Consumer Center of Slovakia represented by the Regional Development Agency Senec-Pezinok, the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection of Poland, the Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia as the main user. The contracting authority is the Ministry of Finance, Sector for Contracting and Financing of Programs from European Union Funds.
The realization of the Project started in June 2021 and will last for two years.