Ambassador of Sweden to Serbia Annika Ben David and the Minister of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, Irena Vujović, signed an agreement today which continues the IED Serbia project and enables further cooperation on reducing industrial emissions through the implementation of the European Directive on industrial emissions in Serbia.
With the project “Green Transition – Implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) in Serbia 2021-2025”, the cooperation between the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy of the University of Belgrade, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the Swedish Agency for International Development and Cooperation (Sida) enters its third phase and represents the further transposition of this Directive, which is important for fulfilling Serbia’s obligations from Chapter 27 – Environment and Climate Change within Cluster 4, which refers to Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity.
The new project IED Serbia is aimed at enhancing the level of implementation of the national regulation on integrated pollution prevention and control extending the scopes of the previous projects that were implemented within this cooperaton, including a wider support for the preparation of the DSIP for IED and The Negotiating Position for the Chapter 27. The scope of the project also reflects and follows up on recent developments taking place at the global level towards accelerating the green transition of the society to reach climate goals and accelerate green investments in industry.
The cooperation between the parties began in 2015 with the project IPPC Farms that enhanced the level of implementation of the IPPC Directive in the intensive rearing secotr for pigs and poultry and continued with the project IED Serbia that extended the scope to food production industries and included even wider support for the preparation of the Directive Specific Implementation Plan for IED and the Negotiating Position for the Chapter 27. The scope of the new project is further extended in support of the transition to European Green Deal that will help the industry in reducing their carbon footprint by providing support for reaching clean technology solutions. The new Project will also support the preparation of a Directive Specific Implementation Plan for the Emissions Trading Scheme Directive (EU ETS) with an aim to support of reaching national climate targets.
Ambassador Ben David expressed satisfaction with the signing of the agreement, which continues Sweden’s support for integration of Serbia in European Union and cooperation with Serbia in the field of environmental protection. She emphasised that the Government of Sweden recently adopted the new Strategy for the Western Balkans and Turkey, which will guide the Embassy’s work in Serbia in the next period which includes further support in environmentally and climate-resilient sustainable development and sustainable use of natural resources.
Minister Vujović thanked Sweden for its continuous assistance and support in implementing EU environmental reforms in Serbia, highlighting that Sweden is one of the main partners of the Serbian Government in achieving European environmental standards. Vujovic also emphasized that it is important for Serbia at this moment that the implementation of this Directive, with the support of Sweden, will bring to the fulfillment of the Green Agenda goals.