Partners on the project "Civil Society as a Force for Change in the Serbia’s EU Accession Process", from 19 to 23 March, visited EU institutions, civil society organizations and media based in Brussels, Belgium. Representatives of 21 civil society organizations and the media from Serbia had the opportunity to present results of their research and monitoring of the process of Serbia's negotiation with the EU during direct meetings with representatives of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission.

The Mental Disability Rights Initiative of Serbia, Tijana Jurić Foundation and Užice Child Rights Centre presented the conclusions of their previous activities (education, research and advocacy) with the Directorate General for Justice and Consumer Protection. Our partners returned with messages that Serbia has to do more in order to ensure and protect children’s rights and provide more opportunities for inclusion and care for people with mental disabilities. In a meeting with Politico and EurActiv, representatives of media Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia, Independent Journalist’ Association of Serbia, European Western Balkans, Novi Sad School of Journalism, Television Forum, Južne vesti and Library Plus had the opportunity to exchange experiences with journalists who closely follow the enlargement process directly in Brussels.

In order to exchange experiences and good practices, Civil Society Europe, European Civil Forum, ALTER EU and Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) presented their tools for the participation of civil society in the decision-making process and advocacy. This was very useful for partners whose projects aim to increase the participation of citizens and the accountability of public authorities (National Coalition for Decentralization, Eurocontact, Educational Center Kruševac, Proaktiv, United Movement of Free Tenants and Owners of Private Buildings, Consumer Protection, National Youth Council of Serbia). Civil society organizations and media were invited to contribute to the recently launched Civic Space Watch Platform with direct information and facts from Serbia. Partnership organizations that follow "green" policies (RES Foundation, Rzav-God save Rzav and the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia) met, among others, with representatives of the General Directorate for Environment and the Directorate General for Climate Change.

During the study visit, more than 20 meetings were organized in Brussels, with various relevant stakeholders in the process of Serbia's negotiations with the EU, both from the public and from the civil sector.