Uroš Ćemalović

Name and Surname
Uroš Ćemalović

Affiliation
Institute for European Studies – senior research associate

Short Biography
Uroš Ćemalović is a senior research associate, an expert in European Union law, intellectual property law, environmental law and public administration, with two decades of experience in the private and public sector. He received his doctorate (2010) at the Faculty of Law of the University of Strasbourg, and also completed his master’s studies in the field of public administration (Paris Dauphine) and EU law (Nancy 2). He worked as a legal expert and expert consultant for various international organizations (EU, UNDP, OSCE, World Bank), and he represented and advised numerous domestic and international companies (Sanofi, Microsoft, SPI Pharmaceuticals). In the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (2007-2013), he dealt with the harmonization of domestic legislation with the acquis of the EU. He was a visiting professor at several universities in Europe (LUISS Rome, Catholic University of Lille, New Bulgarian University), and during 2018, at the Department of European Law of the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, he managed a scientific project on the transformation of the national normative framework in the field intellectual property rights during the EU accession process. From January 2022, he manages the international project “Environmental Legislation and Sustainable Economic Development – the State of Play in Serbia and Experiences of the Croatian EU Membership”. He has published four books and more than 40 scientific papers, in English, French and Serbian, in various publications published in the USA, France, Poland, Croatia and Serbia. He speaks English and French.

Research abstract

Towards energy transition through cross-border inter-municipal cooperation – unexplored potentials of decentralization and demetropolization

The existing approach to the green/energy transition in the countries of the Western Balkans is predominantly based on the encouragement of large/centralized “top-down” state projects that involve the transition from the use of fossil fuels to cleaner – but also long-term sustainable – sources of energy in various areas of industrial production. Although of crucial importance, the presented approach to the energy transition represents only one aspect of its realization. Another extremely important segment of the successful implementation of the energy transition is the one that relies on a decentralized “bottom-up” approach; an approach that strives to increase and maximally apply the capacities of both local governments and the population itself, in order to achieve goals related to the energy transition. However, the potential of the “bottom-up” approach to the energy transition remains insufficiently explored, especially in Serbia, where reducing environmental pollution is a difficult task that inevitably requires more active civic engagement. In this respect, the experience of neighboring EU countries can be crucial in terms of:

adjustments and implementation in the neighborhood of already successfully applied “bottom-up” initiatives and green/energy transition policies, but also
facilitation of local green/energy transition through cross-border inter-municipal cooperation of neighboring local self-government units; cooperation aimed at both the transfer of experience (“know-how”) and the joint implementation of relevant projects.

This research therefore aims to identify the unexplored potential of cross-border inter-municipal cooperation with the aim of more efficient, successful and complete implementation of the energy transition. As such, it is intended for the main “stakeholders”; primarily to representatives of local self-governments, local activists/organizations dedicated to green policies, but also to the general population. The results of the research – which is interdisciplinary, since it relies on the methodology of legal, political and economic sciences – will be useful in terms of facilitation, additional encouragement and preparation of the ground for cross-border inter-municipal cooperation aimed at the energy transition of the Republic of Serbia.