NALAS Association Development Task Force met on 1 October 2015 in Zagreb, Croatia to discuss the perspective of Network’s activities in the EU integration area. The meeting, organized in partnership with the GIZ Open Regional Funds-Modernization of Municipal Services (ORF-MMS), provided an overview to the NALAS draft EU Strategy, which focuses at four key areas: 1) Representation and Lobbying; 2) EU Policies and Legislation; 3) EU funding and 4) NALAS and LGAs EU structures.

The further discussion centered around area 3 of the Strategy, EU Funding. The members of the Task Force discussed the potential EU funding opportunities and how they fit NALAS mission, objectives and processes. Also, decision processes have been drafted, in all phases of project application (prioritization, screening, matching, application). At the end of the meeting, LGAs’ interest and capacity gaps were assessed in all areas of the EU Strategy. “Our key approach is learning by doing”, said Kelmend Zajazi, NALAS Executive Director. “NALAS Shadowing Program might be one of the most useful tools used in the EU issues capacity development”.