At its fifth sitting, held on 22 May, the Local Self-Government Committee discussed the draft Local Authorities Funding Bill. The sitting was chaired by Savo Urosevic, and attended by officials of the Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities and the United Nations Development Programme.

The Committee did not raise any objections to the draft Bill, which has been described as a model for ensuring balanced regional development. It was agreed to prepare a simulation of the Bill’s application to municipalities of varying degrees of development that would be presented at the next sitting.

Committee members agreed that the Committee should sign a protocol with the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy on co-operation on capacity-building projects for local self-government units.

The Committee endorsed the National Investment Plan, drafted by the Serbian Government on the basis of an Irish model, and covering the period from 2006 and 2011. Projects to be funded under the Plan are to be selected by a commission made up of officials of the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank.