In the organisation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, on 19 and 20 November 2009, the annual meeting of County Councils for European Integration was held on Bjelolasica

At the opening participants were addressed by Head of the Directorate for Support to Croatia’s EU Accession Process Mirjam Katulić, County Prefect of Karlovačka County Ivan Vučić and State Secretary of the Central Office for Development Strategy and Coordination of EU Funds Hrvoje Dolenec.

During the meeting, the representatives of the counties had the opportunity to discuss the best ways of communication with the citizens concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, and how to exchange the examples of good practice and the ideas for new information projects intended for specific target groups. Within the meeting lectures were held on the pre-accession IPA Programme, cross-border cooperation, programmes “Europe for Citizens” and “Young at Work”, and the lifelong learning programme.

The Annual Meeting of County Councils for European Integration is a unique opportunity to exchange experiences and strengthen cooperation among the representatives of Croatian counties, and to strengthen administrative capacities at local level.

For a number of years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration has been cooperating with County Councils for European Integration as local partners providing them with financial and professional assistance in the activities related to European integration.

In the process of accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, cooperation of the counties is one of the key factors in informing the citizens at local level about the topics related to European integration, and quality transmission of knowledge on how to use EU pre-accession programmes, which offer a number of possibilities to improve the development of the counties.