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The only aid provided to Serbia - which during the '90ies together with Montenegro comprised the Federal republic of Yugoslavia - from 1993 to 2000 by the EC/EU was humanitarian aid, delivered through ECHO, the European Commission’s humanitarian office. This was directed at victims of the conflicts in the region and to socially vulnerable groups. Grant aid was also given to independent media and to the civil society sector. In addition, from the end of 1999 onwards, heating oil was donated by the EU to the 34 municipalities then in opposition to the Milosevic regime, and a programme of assistance to schools in those municipalities was initiated in August 2000.

After the Kosovo crisis during the first half of 1999, and the passage of Security Council Resolution 1244, the United Nations established a temporary international administration (UNMIK) in Serbia’s southern province. The European Union participates directly in this administration as the “fourth pillar”, responsible for economic development.

The main highlights of EC assistance to Serbia, before the end of the Milosevic regime in October 2000, were:

• Humanitarian assistance -which is non-political and non-conditional - to three main target groups:
• Refugees e.g. from the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia
• Internally displaced persons e.g. from Kosovo
• and the most vulnerable groups in the FRY e.g. social cases, the elderly, hospitals
  
  Assistance included shelter, food, medicines, water supply and sanitation.
• Democratisation and human rights assistance - to NGOs and civil society actors in Serbia since 1994, in order to help them raise awareness about democracy, human and minority rights issues and to stimulate true civic values. Projects include promoting dialogue between the different ethnic communities, conflict resolution, training programmes for NGOs, awareness raising on the role of human rights in building a civil society, promotion of citizens; participation in local democracy projects, voter education, etc.
• The independent media also received significant support - over € 6m - in order to help them face the repression by the former Federal and Serbian authorities.
• In winter 1999-2000 the European Commission launched in October 1999 the successful "Energy for Democracy" (EfD) programme aimed at alleviating the heating situation in Serbia by delivering heating oil to opposition-run municipalities and at making clear to the population that responsibility for suffering caused by shortages and economic decline lay with the isolationist policy and actions of the (now former) regime. The pilot project was for Nis and Pirot, then extended (Feb 2000) to also cover Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Novi Sad, Sombor and Subotica, for a total of €8.8m. The programme not only provided assistance to the population of the municipalities in need - by means of heavy fuel and gas oil for heating plants, schools, hospitals, public buildings - but also enabled other donors to participate e.g. Norway's "Oil for Democracy" programme (heating oil to Uzice, Cacak, Trstenik, Arilje and Pozega). The EfD programme has been extended, under the Emergency Assistance Programme, to all municipalities.
• In July 2000, the Commission decided to launch a programme "Schools for a democratic Serbia", worth €3.8 m. This programme aimed to support expenditures relating to education establishments under the responsibility of democratically-run municipalities, building on the relationships established with municipalities in the context of the "Energy for Democracy" programme. This pilot programme focused on repairs and the supply of education related material (such as furniture) for Kindergartens, Schools and Educational establishments. Memoranda of Understanding were signed with all 34 municipalities, for 147 project proposals, 84 of which are almost completed. The SfDS programme is extended, under the Emergency Assistance Programme, to all municipalities.

With the transition to democracy in Belgrade, the EU moved quickly to ease the difficult transition period and to give a concrete and visible signal of support to the population and to the new authorities. At the European Council at Biarritz (13-14 October), attended by the newly elected FRY President Vojislav Kostunica, EU Heads of State and Government announced up to € 200m for that winter "to help consolidate democratic change in the FRY". € 182m was provided, as the "Emergency Assistance Programme", from the EC's OBNOVA (Reconstruction) programme, as well as € 18m in EC humanitarian assistance continuing (the usual) support to the refugees from BiH and Croatia (c.500 000 persons); internally displaced persons from Kosovo (c.200 000) plus many more dependent on assistance (old people's homes, orphanages, hospitals …), in all, close to a million persons.

Since then, mainly through the European Agency for Reconstruction, the EU has supported Serbian reforms with a total of nearly 1,2 billion euro.

• More information about EU Assistance to Serbia- The European Agency for Reconstruction