Better Citizens' Participation in Drafting Regulations (RS0056)

Brief description of the Commitment

This commitment seeks to look at the possibilities and further directions of improving the quality of public participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents. Such a goal will be achieved through a comprehensive overview of the current situation and its causes, as well as through comparative practices, followed by consideration and definition of further steps, in accordance with the accepted findings of the conducted analysis by the competent authorities.

Problem Definition

1. What problem does the commitment aim to address? Despite the significant efforts and progress made in recent years to improve the participation of citizens and interested public in the process of drafting regulations and public policy documents, the practice in this area is still inconsistent. Such practice is reflected in the different degrees and ways of applying the existing mechanisms for citizens' participation by public administration bodies, but also in the variation of overall results which are achieved in this area at the level of the entire state administration system.68 Interventions in the normative framework, starting from 2018, have created legal conditions for the equal and fair participation of all stakeholders in these processes from the earliest stage, instead of the previous possibility of participation only in the final stages through the institute of public debates. As described below (see the section related to previous efforts to solve the problem), since 2018, new public participation mechanisms have been standardized and introduced – the announcement of the commencement with the work on the regulation/public policy document, consultations and the possibility of participation of stakeholders in working groups for drafting regulations and public policy documents. Nevertheless, after five years of application of the existing legal framework, the inconsistent practice indicates the need to review its effects and consider the possibilities and options which would bring further development of citizens’ participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents.

2. What are the causes of the problem? The main causes of the described problem, as well as potential solutions, should be identified precisely by the implementation of this commitment, in the manner described in the section Commitment description. On the other hand, the previous experience of the public administration bodies, under whose purview is the subject matter, shows that some of the causes of the problem can be found in the complexity and dispersion of the normative framework in several regulations, which makes it difficult for the public administration bodies to apply it more efficiently. Also, there is a noticeable lack of professional and staffing capacities of public administration bodies in this area, as well as the need to strengthen awareness and understanding of the importance of citizens' participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents. Finally, practice has shown that consultations and public debates remain logically and substantively unrelated, even though they refer to the same set of documents - regulations and public policy documents - and that finding an adequate solution to link these two processes, but also to further improve them, should be considered.

Commitment Description

1. What has been done so far to solve the problem? As stated in the definition of the problem, in recent years the Government of the Republic of Serbia has made significant efforts to improve public participation in the processes of drafting of regulations and public policy documents, striving to improve both the normative framework and the practice itself. In this sense, starting from 2018, new and amended existing regulations governing this matter have been adopted, namely: The Law on the Planning System and the accompanying Regulation on the Methodology of Public Policy Management, Impact Analysis of Public Policies and Regulations, and the Content of Individual Public Policy Documents, the amendments to the Law on State Administration and the accompanying Rulebook on Good Practice Guidelines for Exercising Public Participation in the Drafting of Laws and Other Regulations and Acts, and the Guidelines for the inclusion of Civil Society Organisations in the Working Groups for Drafting Public Policy Documents and Regulation Proposals. In addition, in December 2021, the national eConsultations Portal (https://ekonsultacije.gov.rs/) was launched as a unique platform which enables the participation of all stakeholders in the processes of drafting regulations and public policy documents, under equal conditions, in electronic form. With the aforementioned interventions, based on changes in the normative framework, the public administration bodies have made significant progress in terms of introducing the consultations process, as a new mechanism of citizen participation, which until then had not been regulated and was based only on the good practice of certain bodies. At the same time, the process of conducting public debates remained organized in the same way as before the process of organizing consultations. In addition, the improved legal framework had also established two new mechanisms for participation of the interested public in the preparation of regulations and public policy documents – the announcement of commencement with the work on a regulation/public policy document and the possibility of participation of stakeholders in working groups for the preparation of regulations/public policy documents. The described results were acknowledged in the latest Progress Report of the Republic of Serbia for 2022, in which it was noted that "the scope of public consultations was improved", but that it is necessary to improve the quality control of these processes and ensure the systematic publication of information on the conducted consultations and public debates. Taken as a whole, the aforementioned solutions enabled the participation of the interested public from the earliest stages of drafting regulations and public policy documents, unlike previous solutions which only recognized participation through public debates, in the final stages of this process.

2. What solution are you proposing? Starting from the described problem, and the need to precisely identify its causes and potential solutions, as a first step within this commitment, the proposal is to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis which would include the solutions concerning these processes applied by the surrounding countries (Slovenia, Croatia, BiH, Montenegro and North Macedonia, whose legal systems were created on the legacy of the legal system of the SFRY) and three other member states of the European Union, whose legal systems, viewed mutually, did not originate from one of the so-called large legal systems, but from different ones. Taking into account the experiences of the aforementioned countries, as well as the current state of domestic legislation and practice, the analysis would offer certain options/recommendations for further improvement of the process of public participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents. As part of the second step, the public administration bodies under whose purview are the issues related to public participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents, and which are designated as the bearers of the implementation of this commitment, would consider the findings and recommendations of the conducted analysis and propose further development directions and measures for improving the situation in the subject area.

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? The implementation of the commitment seeks to improve the existing situation regarding the citizens’ participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents, with a focus on reviewing and considering all available options offered by comparative practice, which would be acceptable from the aspect of the national legal system.

Commitment Analysis

1. How will the commitment promote transparency? By taking steps towards reviewing and improving the conditions for citizens' participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents, the decision- making process itself would become more transparent and "open" for citizens.

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability? Improving the conditions for citizens' participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents will enable better control and insight into the work of public administration bodies and the Government by citizens, so the issue of accountability, in this sense, will always be in focus as one of the key issues.

3. How will the the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? Based on the identification of the key causes of the problem and the selection of adequate solutions for solving them, a better and more efficient framework shall be created for the citizens’ participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents.

Commitment Planning (Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date)

1. Development of a comprehensive comparative analysis, with recommendations for improving public participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents in the Republic of Serbia | A conducted comprehensive comparative analysis, with recommendations for improving public participation in the drafting of regulations and public policy documents in the Republic of Serbia | I quarter of 2025

2. Consideration of the findings of the analysis by the competent public administration bodies | Considered findings of the analysis by the competent public administration bodies in order to propose further development directions for improving the situation in the subject area | III quarter of 2025