On 4 December 2013, six weeks after the publication of the European Commission's Montenegro Progress Report 2013, which identified significant progress in the accession negotiations and recommended the opening of additional negotiation chapters, debates at the third meeting of the EU-Montenegro Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) focused on the issues of the absorption capacity of EU pre-accession funds at local level and fiscal decentralization. Opening the meeting, JCC's co-chair Stanisław Szwabski (PL/EA), Chairman of Gdynia City Council, commended Montenegro's progress towards enlargement as "both impressive and inspiring", stressing that "Montenegro's determination towards EU accession reinforces the credibility of the enlargement process and is an excellent example for the whole Western Balkan region

During the meeting of the NALAS Committee of Liaison Officers, held on 8 December 2013 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, our Network has been enriched with two new associate members

On 21 November 2013, South East Europe got one of its key development documents, SEE 2020 Strategy, expected to bring growth and prosperity to the region. This Strategy puts an emphases on the subsidiarity principle and the role of local governments in promoting economic growth. Unfortunately, in parallel, some SEE countries undergo processes that decrease the fiscal autonomy of the local government and by doing so, jeopardize economic development.

Yesterday, the President of NALAS, Mr. Anton Persak, attended a dinner with the Vice-President and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), organized by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Since the beginning of the financial, economic, and social crisis of 2008, local and regional authorities have had to adapt to a new political and economic context

On 26 and 27 November 2013, in Skopje, Macedonia, NALAS hosted the third Project Partner’s Meeting of the ATTRACT-SEE project. This project addresses the need for improved understanding of comprehensive territorial dynamics and improved coordination among different public policies to achieve territorial cohesion and other development goals at all levels (transnational, national, regional and local). In order to set up an effective monitoring system, the project aims to develop a ‘Common Territorial Monitoring Framework’ , together with the relevant tools.

From 25-26 November 2013, NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning met in Skopje, Macedonia to discuss the current urban planning challenges in South-East Europe. Task Force members informed each other about the recent developments in their countries in regards with urban planning, ongoing national and municipal projects most relevant to urban planning, as well as the role their Local Government Associations have in these processes.

The Ministerial Conference of the South East Europe Investment Committee adopted the SEE 2020 Strategy at a meeting of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in Sarajevo on 21 November 2013.

The City to City Dialogue on Urban Audit will be organized from 11-13 December 2013 in Skopje, Macedonia

NALAS seeks to engage an agency for translation services for translating the content of the Urban Planning e-learning course in Macedonian and Albanian languages