The Local Democracy Agency Ohrid from 19th to 20th October 2006 organized the training on "European funds for the Balkans - getting prepared for IPA". This training is an activity in the frame of the project "Capacity Building for Local Authorities and Civil Society in SEE", financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy an is implemented in cooperation with ALDA and ANCI. The role of the trainers had Mrs. Mirjana Lozanoska and Mr. Stojan Saveski.The training was attended by representatives from seven municipalities in the south-west part of Macedonia (Ohrid, Resen, Struga, Vevcani, Debarca, Kicevo and Debar). The participants were profoundly informed about the new budget policy of the European Union for the period 2007-2013, with focus on the new Pre-Accession Instrument (IPA) and the procedure in applying for the EU funds.

During the training sessions the participants were introduced with the specific objectives of each IPA component and other thematic programmes and thematic instruments opened for the countries in the region. Also, the following topics were worked out: Project Cycle Management; Filling out the Application form; Designing the budget; The respect of the Grant Agreement; Reporting obligations; Good financial practices.

It is important to note that in the frame of the training, at the beginning of the second day was organised a round table on "IPA funds and the role of the EC Delegation", which was attended by the trainees and the mayors of the above mentioned municipalities. They had the opportunity for open discussion with the special guest on the round table, the Ambassador Mr. Erwan Fouere, Head of the EC Delegation in Skopje. The ambassador Mr. Fouere stressed that the central government, the municipalities and the business sector should cooperate in preparing the projects in order to get the optimum from the allocated funds. The amount of the funds that will be allocated to the municipalities will depend on the absorption capacity and the readiness of the national bodies to manage the Decentralised Implementing System. In this context was presented the financial plan for the period 2007-2009 which previews through IPA funds, allocation of 210 million Euro for Macedonia for the following components: transitional assistance and institution-building, regional and cross-border co-operation, human resources development and rural development.
Mrs. Katerina Kus-Ivanova from the Secretariat for European Integration, elaborated that Government of Macedonia has started the process of accreditation, comprising the transfer of the competencies and management with the EU funds on the decentralised way. It is expected that at the begging of 2008 the responsible bodies on a national level will start with the management of the entire process of distribution of the EU funds.