Varvara Aleksić

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

My career goal is to assume a role which allows me to take responsibility for promoting environmental values and protecting the nature for future generations. I am highly motivated young professional with a genuine passion for environment and energy law. In addition to 3 years of professional experience in government and international organizations, I have excellent writing and organizational skills. Fluent in English and Serbian, intermediate in German and Slovak.

During my engagement in the European Commission, Energy Community Secretariat and governmental sector, I had the opportunity to develop advanced communicational and organizational skills. I was regularly involved in presenting different energy and environmentally related topics to audiences consisted of people with various backgrounds e.g. representatives of the Ministries, national agencies and Executive Board members of the Public Enterprise for Electricity Production “Elektroprivreda” Serbia. Moreover, I have learned that open internal communication and developed interpersonal skills are essential for teamwork. Since I was faced with the fast pacing work rhythm and strict deadlines, I invested in good planning and prioritization to finish my work on time.

As an intern in the Energy Community Secretariat, I had an opportunity to work on the cases of the TSO certification. My main responsibility, as part of the Legal Unit, was providing legal support in drafting the opinion on national regulatory authorities’ decisions on certification of the Serbian TSO “Elektromreza Srbije” (EMS) and Montenegrin TSO “Crnogorski elektrorenosni sistem” (CGES). The task required legal analysis of conditions set by the EU legislation and their fulfillment by the mentioned TSOs. This part of the job required good research and writing skills, taking into consideration objectives and comprehensive character of specific policy area.
In addition, in the Secretariat I was engaged in conducting legal research of the EU energy, competition and state aid law through drafting the CJEU case law compilation. As the research included broad perspective and required substantial multi-tasking, the effectiveness of my job depended on good organization and efficiency. The continual communication in our team and support of each other also contributed to the timely and successful achievement of my task.

REFERENCES:

Association for Sustainable Development (ASOR), Belgrade (Serbia)

• Provided legal expertise for project implementation “Mobilization and involvement of stakeholders in
  the effective energy policy-making process in Serbia” with the goal to establish regular consultancy
  mechanisms and build the capacity of the NGOs, industry and public sector;
• Conducted research and delivered presentations on the topics related to sustainable energy policy of
  the EU and the Energy Community (integrated energy and climate planning, RES policy and
  legislation, environmental aspects of energy acquis, climate policy);
• Drafted policy recommendations “Towards Sustainable Energy with Civil Sector and Industry”
  aimed to enhance involvement of the stakeholders in clean energy policy-making process in Serbia.

European Commission, DG Environment, Clean Water Unit, Brussels (Belgium)

• Monitored the EU Accession process of the Candidate Countries in the water area;
• Managed project “Fitness check of the EU water legislation” through coordinating correspondence
  with contractors and assessing their responses and deliverables;
• Drafted and analyzed reports in the EU water policy area;
• Assisted in development of the Consultation Strategy for “Fitness check of the EU water legislation”.

Energy Community Secretariat, Vienna (Austria)

• Assessed the transposition and monitored the implementation of the Energy Community acquis in
  the Western Balkan countries;
• Drafted Energy Community Implementation Report 2017 – chapter on environment;
• Presented Energy Community legal and policy framework to different stakeholders from the Western
  Balkan region and beyond;
• Conducted legal research of CJEU case-law in the field of energy and environment through drafting
  the compilation of the reference cases for the Energy Community infringement procedure.

Government of the Republic of Serbia – European Integration Office, Belgrade (Serbia)

• Revised the EU environmental and energy legislation documents translated from English into
  Serbian language in order to improve the quality of the legal text and develop professional vocabulary;
• Legal proofread of European Commission Report on Serbian Progress 2016 – Chapter 15 Energy
  and Chapter 27 Environment and Climate Change (translation from English into Serbian);
• Conducted more than 15 training courses and presentations about the environmental and
  energy acquis for representatives of Ministries in Serbia.