The conference was held as part of Macedonia’s presidency of the informal network of Western Balkans parliamentary committees in charge of economy, finance and European integration issues. The informal parliamentary network is supported by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy within the project scheduled for completion by 31 March 2015.

The participants of the conference, members of Western Balkan parliaments, members of the Parliament of Scotland and NGO representatives adopted joint conclusions and recommendations for the network’s future operation. These emphasise the need to improve the parliaments’ oversight role as regards the spending of IPA funds, boost the parliamentary services’ capacities and join the preparations for the use of the new instrument for pre-accession assistance IPA II. The network of parliamentary committees was deemed to have contributed to an improved implementation of reforms and acceptance of good European practices.

On the behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, deputy member of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending, Prof. Dr Vladimir Marinkovic took over the six-month presidency of the Regional Network of Committees in Charge of Finance, Economy and European Integration of Western Balkan Countries. The next big conference is planned to take place in Belgrade, in March 2014, with the topic: Direct Foreign Investment and Government Assistance.