History of SCTM

Establishment

The Founding Assembly of the Standing Conference of Towns and Town Municipalities of the FNRY was held in Belgrade on 21 and 22 April 1953. In addition to the adoption of the Decision on Establishment and the Statute, as well as the election of bodies, the Decision on joining the International Association of Towns (IULA) was adopted. IULA was established upon the initiative of the Belgian National Alliance in 1913, with the same initiatives and the same principles as the Standing Conference.

On this occasion, it was especially emphasized that during the old Yugoslavia, from 1927 until the beginning of the World War Two, there was and existed the Union of the Towns of Yugoslavia whose main goal was the fight against the central authorities for the town self-government. That is how the idea of the Conference was born. It is interesting to note that it was quite difficult to give the proper name for the organization of Yugoslav towns and municipalities that would correspond to its character and goals to a large extent. The desire was to express in the very title the non-compulsory attitudes and conclusions derived from mutual consultations, while at the same time emphasizing the continuity and permanency of the exchange of experiences. This is how the name Standing Conference came into being, not the alliance, the association or the like, which could signify more stringent and more compulsory forms of association. These principles on which the Conference originally based its work were new, brave, deeply democratic and progressive for that time, and they remained like that to this day.

In its first statute (approved by the Federal Assembly), the Conference proclaimed the principles of full voluntary membership, equality of all members - large and small municipalities and towns, association and cooperation exclusively on the basis of independently assessed own interests. The basic principle of the work of all bodies, organs and gatherings of the Conference was the principle of agreeing and communicating, consultation without imposing decisions and conclusions of any forum to members of the organization. In one word, the Conference was not conceived as a "higher authority" above the member towns, it was never set up in such a way, and it will surely retain its character in the future.

First years

From the very beginning of the work of the Standing Conference as a consultative organisation of Yugoslav towns, the annual assemblies of its members, consultations and other wider gatherings were the most important forms of its work, in addition to the Presidency and thematic committees meetings. In addition, the publishing activity was intensively developed: publishing of books, magazines and newsletters, various forms of individual - direct assistance to members (answers to questions, information and other services), international relations and cooperation were established with many national and international organisations of local authorities in order to exchange experiences, and other forms of work have been developed.

In the first years, SCTMY assemblies were held twice, later once a year, and since 1964 they were held every two years. They were always dedicated to the most current topic, which was considered to be at the centre of attention of municipalities and towns.

At the 6^th session of the Assembly in 1956, the Association changed its name to the Standing Conference of Towns of Yugoslavia, and the name of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities of Yugoslavia was actual from the 22^nd session of the Assembly held in 1978 to the 33^rd session of December 2003, when it changed name in the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities.

Throughout the years, SCTMY has gained a reputation as an institution that recognizes problems in municipalities and represents the interests of its members before competent authorities. An example may be that the Federal Assembly of the former SFRY regularly consulted the SCTMY in deciding about issues related to local authorities.

In addition to building its political influence, SCTMY has made a lot of efforts in communicating with membership and in developing inter-municipal cooperation. Publishing was considered one of the main tasks of the association. The monthly magazine "Komuna", numerous thematic publications and translations were published in order to provide more complete information to towns, municipalities and the general public on all aspects of complex issues of importance to local authorities.

In the period between 1960 and 1990, the association had more than 30 employees. It was mostly financed from the membership fees and income of the magazine "Komuna". A small part of the income came from public companies, through technical support to SCTMY sections.

During the nineties

During the 1990s, at the time of strong centralization of power and the takeover of jurisdiction from municipalities, the circumstances for SCTMY and the municipalities have significantly changed. The Association could no longer provide many basic services to municipalities.

At the same time, on the political scene of Serbia and Yugoslavia changes of crucial importance for the country as a whole have been conducted. After a long protest, the results of the elections were recognized and then, as a political response to the regime, the Association of Free Towns and Municipalities of Serbia (AFTMS) was founded, as an institution of towns and municipalities. AFTMS was finally officially recognized in 1998 after a long registration process. The founders of the AFTMS were leading people from 35 towns in which the opposition won elections.

After 2000

After the 2000, the process of merging AFTMS and SCTMY has started. At the first working session held on 31 October 2000 the leaders of the two associations reached an agreement on joint further work, i.e. on the inclusion of AFTMS in SCTMY, as a national institution of local authorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

SCTMY convened the Presidency meeting on 14 November 2000 for the first time after several years of hibernation. The 31^st Assembly of SCTMY was held on 14 June 2001, and the new bodies of SCTMY were elected on it. On that occasion, the SCTMY Mission and Strategy Statement were adopted and six committees were established. From that moment on, the activities of the Conference have started intensifying, especially through committees work, projects with foreign partners, renewal of cooperation with international organisations, provision of services and representation of the interests of municipalities. The number of employees is rising again, so that the organisation and staff can respond to an increased volume of work.

Following the proclamation of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, which inherited the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, at the 33^rd session of the Assembly of the SCTMY in December 2003, the change of the Statute changed the name of the organization into the "Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities". Also, it was then determined that the members of the SCTM are towns and municipalities of Serbia.