How much is civil society in Serbia involved in the development of public policies?
Cooperation with civil society in the drafting of laws, along witch enhancing understanding of the role of non-governmental organizations and more effective utilization of their expertise are important for creating efficient measures and public policies. However, although dialogue with the state exists, the majority of organizations do not feel sufficiently included, even though they all want to work on reforms, as shown by a new survey of attitudes of the economy civil, and public sectors about public-private dialogue in Serbia, conducted by NALED on an indicative sample.
According to Neven Marinovic, director of Smart Kolektiv and a member of NALED's Advisory Board, the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in lawmaking is important because they represent specific groups of citizens - youth, minorities and other vulnerable categories that would remain neglected without their participation. However, only 30% of surveyed organizations believe that the dialogue has improved in the last year and that cooperation with them needs to be improved, as stated by the European Commission in its latest report on Serbia.
- It is positve that, compared to the 2021 survey, the share of organizations involved in legislative activities has increased, with 75% of respondents stating that they have cooperated with relevant authorities, mostly by commenting on draft laws and participating in working groups for regulatory development. However, it is important to note that even in those processes involving CSOs, it is perceived that this is done more to fulfill formalities - emphasized Marinović.
The research also shows that o of CSOs mairitnly contacted authorities via email in the previous year to gain insight into public information, indicating a lack of trust and cooperation. In order to improve communication, organizatios primarily emphasize the need to strenghten transparency and seek grater accountability of institutions for the quality of this process, while representatives of the public sector also highlight the need to strengthen internal capacities for dialogue.
- Institutions should, above all, regularly inform associations about key activities and involve them timely in policy-making. This does not mean just informing them and ultimately disregarding the submitted proposals, but actually using their knowledge, capacities, and good suggestions. On the other hand, civil society must remain persistent and come up with concrete solutions because both sides bear resposibility for establishing better cooperations. Ulimately, regulations that arise through dialogue such as the Law on Social Entrepreneurship and the program for the development of this sector that is in preparation, have a much better chance of being implemented in practice and supported by the whole society - concludes Marinović.
Of the institutions that formed working groups, 43% highlight that representatives of the economy and civil sector were regularly included in their work, while 38% did so somewhat less frequently. Additionally, three-quarters of institutional representatives state that the views of the economy and civil sextor are generally taken into account when making or amending regulations. Data from the latest regulatory index of Serbia also confirm that public consultations and discussions were held for every second law significant for the economy in 2022, and drafts were available in two-thirds of cases.
There are about 36,500 active associations in Serbia, meaning there is one organizations for every 180 citizens, predominantly engaged in areas such as human rights protection, environmental protection, economic development, democracy and euro-integration. Looking at the number of inhabitants, among the countries in the region by the number of established CSo, Croatia leads with just over 51,000 (one association per 83 citizens), around 25,500 are registered in BiH (one association per 125 citizens), and Montenegro, there are over 6,100 (one association per 100 citizens).
