The Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) for IPA II CBC Programmes Montenegro – Albania and Montenegro – Kosovo 2014-2020, in cooperation with the Operating Structures (OS) of the Programmes, organized the thematic meetings with the representatives of the municipalities and local public institutions/enterprises within eligible areas of the IPA II CBC Programmes Montenegro – Albania and Montenegro – Kosovo. The thematic meetings with the municipalities were planned as part of the visibility and awareness raising campaign in order to promote both IPA II CBC Programmes.

In the period between 19^th February and 26^th March, 30 municipalities from the Programmes area in Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo were visited. Great interest was shown by participants to attend and discuss about the Programmes with the JTS and OS, as these meetings were attended by a total of 251 participants.

The meetings presented an opportunity for representatives of municipalities and other local authorities/companies to obtain more detailed information on both Programmes. Further explanation have been provided for financial framework, financial envelope and issues of co-financing and pre-financing of the Programmes and grants and reporting within process of project implementation. Moreover, clarifications were given regarding the eligibility of actions and partnership, 2^nd Call for Proposals and other rules that are common within the application and implementation process. Additionally, representatives of the municipalities and respective institutions/enterprises were encouraged to participate in the next call for proposals.

The thematic meetings resulted to be a very good tool for promotion of the Programmes priorities, but also for presenting the programme bodies that are available for assistance to potential applicants. Additionally, the meetings assisted the JTS in familiarizing with the Programmes area and part of the stakeholders, as well as with their needs and capacities. The efforts of the OSs and JTS to organize these types of meetings were highly welcomed and the participants were very satisfies with the quantity and quality of the provided information.

Finally, the main issue to be tackled remains the low capacities of the majority of municipalities in drafting of the project proposals and project implementation in line with EU rules.