Opportunity: Policy and Legal Advice Centre (PLAC), Serbia

Project reference: EC-ENEST/BEG/2026/EA-RP/0063 Policy and Legal Advice Centre (PLAC), IPA 2026, Republic of Serbia

How to Apply

Please send your updated CV to gdsivacancies@gdsi.ie by the 20 August 2026.Ensure your email subject line reads “PLAC 5 … – [indicate Key Expert/Non-key Expert Role]” based on the position you’re applying for.

Submission Deadline

All applications must be received by the 20 August 2026

Assignment Duration

The intended start date for the project is November 2026, and the contract’s implementation period will extend over 30 months from this date.

Location :

The primary place of operation will be Belgrade, Republic of Serbia. Internal travel within Serbia may be required.

About the Assignment:
The Policy and Legal Advice Centre (PLAC) project provides technical assistance to Serbian institutions responsible for legislative alignment, supporting the understanding, adoption and effective implementation of the EU acquis. The two expected outputs of the contract are: (1) enhanced compatibility of national legislation with EU legislation and its effective implementation; and (2) enhanced capacities of relevant national structures to successfully manage the EU accession process.

Project Description:

Funded by the European Union and contracted by the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, this is the sixth in a row of PLAC projects assisting Serbian national institutions in the alignment of domestic legislation with the EU acquis. The overall objective (Impact) to which this action contributes is: “Serbian administration effectively conducts accession negotiations and successfully manages overall EU integration and pre-accession assistance geared towards EU membership.” The specific objective (Outcome) of this contract is: “To achieve a high level of effective alignment of national legislation with the Union acquis and its implementation.”

1. Key experts

1.1. Key expert 1 : Team Leader (minimum 500 working days)—Belgrade based

Qualifications and skills (Minimum requirements)

Level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least 3 years in the field of law, and/or political sciences, and/or European studies or other relevant areas, at the level of undergraduate studies having the scope of at least 180 ECTS points or in the absence of formal education six years of professional experience in addition to the minimum requested general professional experience.
Be proficient in English;
Have excellent communication and analytical skills;
Be proficient in report drafting; and
Have excellent team working abilities.

General professional experience (Minimum requirements)

Minimum 10 (ten) preferably 15 (fifteen) years of professional post-graduate experience in EU policies or EU integration in an EU Member State or a candidate/potential candidate country.

Specific professional experience (Minimum requirements)

Minimum 5 (five) preferably 8 (eight) years working experience on alignment with the Union acquis in a Member State or candidate/potential candidate country.
Experience in coordination, managing and leading working teams in the public or private sector/organizations or in donor funded projects in minimum 1 (one) but preferably 3 (three) projects with a budget of at least 1M € and a duration of minimum 12 months.

1.2. Key expert 2 : Senior Legal Expert (minimum 500 working days) -Belgrade based

Qualifications and skills (Minimum requirements)

Level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least 3 (three) years in the field of law, at the level of undergraduate studies having the scope of at least 180 ECTS points or in the absence of formal education 6 (six) years of professional experience in addition to the minimum requested general professional experience.
Be proficient in English;
Have excellent communication and analytical skills;
Be proficient in report drafting; and
Have excellent team working abilities.

General professional experience (Minimum requirements)

Minimum 8 (eight) preferably 10 (ten) years of postgraduate experience with harmonisation of legislation with the Union acquis.

Specific professional experience (Minimum requirements)

Minimum 5 (five) preferably 8 (eight) years of experience in drafting of legislation in an EU Member State or candidate/potential candidate country.
Minimum 1 (one), preferably 3 (three) years of experience with the EU accession negotiations through participation in negotiating structure or donor-funded projects related to accession process will be an advantage.
Knowledge of legal system of Republic of Serbia and its institutional framework will be considered as an advantage.

2. Non-Key Experts

Implementation of the activities will require the mobilisation of short and long terms non-key experts with the competences in the following relevant Acquis Chapters:

Non-Key Expert – Chapter 1: Free Movement of Goods
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 3: Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 8: Competition Policy
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 9: Financial Services
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 12: Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 14: Transport Policy
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 15: Energy
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 27: Environment and Climate Change
Non-Key Expert – Chapter 28: Consumer and Health Protection

This list is not exhaustive. Considering the plans for meeting the criteria for EU membership, needs will also be considered across all negotiation clusters:

Non-Key Expert – Cluster 1: Fundamentals
Non-Key Expert – Cluster 2: Internal Market
Non-Key Expert – Cluster 3: Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth
Non-Key Expert – Cluster 4: Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity
Non-Key Expert – Cluster 5: Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion
Non-Key Expert – Cluster 6: External Relations

Trainers / Technical Advisors – Negotiation Support: In addition to the chapter-specific Non-Key Experts above, the project will mobilise trainers and technical advisors to support the formation of negotiating positions, the preparation of government negotiating positions, and the drafting of responses to benchmarks throughout the accession negotiation process.

Qualifications and skills (Minimum requirements)

A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least 3 (three) years in the relevant field (such as law, public administration, engineer, political science, etc.) at the level of undergraduate studies having the scope of at least 180 ECTS credits or in the absence of formal education six years of professional experience in addition to the minimum requested general professional experience; be computer proficient; English proficiency.
Be proficient in English;
Have excellent communication and analytical skills;
Be proficient in report drafting; and
Have excellent team working abilities.

General professional experience (Minimum requirements)

Pool of Senior Experts: a minimum 8 (eight) years of general postgraduate professional experience in the relevant field.
Pool of Junior Experts: a minimum 5 (five) years of general postgraduate professional experience in the relevant field.

Specific professional experience (Desired experience)

Experience in the preparation of normative acts (laws, by-laws, regulations) in the process of alignment with the EU acquis.
Experience in preparing tables of concordance and comparative legal assessments between national legislation and the EU acquis.
Experience in EU accession negotiations, whether as a former civil servant of a normative/legal department within a ministry or line institution, or as a freelance consultant on donor-funded accession-related projects.

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