Belgrade, January, 27th – New concept of sectoral approach in planning of regional development policy in Serbia was discussed during the public promotion of policy paper of the Research Forum of the European Movement in Serbia Improved concept of regional development planning in the Republic of Serbia, written by Ognjen Miric, member of the Research Forum and deputy director of the Office for European Integration, and Valentina Ivanic, member of the Research Forum and director of the Balanced Regional Development of AP Vojvodina.

The debate was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, Ministry of Finance, National Agency for Regional Development, the Serbian Office for European Integration, chambers of commerce, regional development agencies, civil society, business sector, academia and the media.

The discussion was devoted to the current and potential, improved concept of regional development policy planning in the Republic of Serbia in the context of preparation of a single National Plan of Regional Development of Serbia. Recommendations from the paper were presented, including an innovative, sectoral and geographical approach which means that all the "regional strategies" have the sectoral classification of priorities and measures for its implementation, i.e. to continue with the reform of budget planning in order to allow multi-annual budgeting, with the constant preparation of projects which will enable the implementation of strategies under the umbrella of the National Plan of Regional Development.

In that context, it was stated during the discussion that the reform of the planning system would contribute to regional development policy’s, as a field that permeates all other areas, contribution on achieving significant results and processes of political and social changes. It was pointed out that in Serbia there are currently 110 strategies covering different areas, but not in a coordinated manner and with an estimated effect. Authors of the policy paper said that the decision about the termination of certain strategies whose time has expired or those documents whose effects are not realized in practice should be made.

Therefore, Research Forum proposes adoption of 10 times less strategies than its current number, with the necessary adjustment of the project financing planning with the framework established by the European Union. "For the period 2014-2020, Serbia currently has only three strategies in the sector competitiveness covered by the next EU budget period. These documents are required for preparation of projects, strategically important for financing from the EU funds. On the other hand, constant development of project documentation is required. We currently have only five major infrastructure projects adjusted with the EU standards prepared for funding from the IPA, which is not enough", said Ognjen Miric, noting that preparation of projects for the 2014-2020 funding period should have already started.

Need for involvement of regional development component into sectoral strategies

As one of the problems of regional development policy, the authors highlighted the lack of attention paid by the Serbian Government to long-term goals that deal with strengthening the competitiveness of the region. By introducing and monitoring of long-term goals of economic policy in Serbia and with good development planning, scheduling the usage of funds becomes a technical issue and the development is managed based on the priorities of a country, not the donors, said Valentina Ivanic. "It is therefore important to refocus the approach from the project to the program thinking" she said.

Regional development is not recognized as a separate sector, but it also cannot be separated from other policy and planning systems used in Serbia. In order to avoid unnecessarily creation of parallel systems of planning, the policy in relation to this area, along with introduction of innovative approaches to planning, should be focused on the involvement of regional development component into all relevant sector strategies to ensure financing of measures and projects important for regional development in all ministries, said the authors of this analysis of the Research Forum.

In this regard, Ognjen Miric pointed out that the planning of the national budget should be sector-oriented and that all regional strategies should include the sectoral classification of priorities and measures for its implementation, "because it would thus provide a link between regional and sectoral strategies, and therefore a connection with funding sources”.

It was noticed that there is no culture of evaluation in Serbia and that clear indicators of assessment for the strategies performance should be introduced. Valentina Ivanic stressed that effects of strategies implementation are not evaluated in Serbia and that the assessment are usually done later, and are not based on predetermined parameters. "Without ex ante analysis and setting of indicators, it is impossible to accurately determine the effects achieved, and to distinguish results, for example the economic performance in general, and the effects, such as the concrete measures taken", Ivanic said.

One of the recommendations of the Research Forum analysis refers to introduction of a system of incentives and sanctions depending on the achieved results.

One of the main recommendations from the discussion concerned the need for a systematic relation towards the capacity building of local self-governments for planning, and therefore preparing of project documentation, which should be a task for the public administration, with parallel approach at all levels.

Ivan Knezevic, Deputy Secretary General of the European Movement in Serbia, said that the EMinS has been dealing with the issue of regional development and raising the absorption capacity of institutions at all levels to use EU funds for many years, and that it seeks to contribute to the development of the concept of strategic planning in Serbia through the activities of the Research Forum. He pointed out the necessity for an adequate institutional framework which would enable planning for regional development and that the Research Forum will continue to deal with this issue in the upcoming period so it can come out with a new set of public policy proposals.

Vladimir Pavicevic, President of the Research Forum, said that the decision to create this public policy proposal was encouraged with the insufficient dealing with the issue of regional development in Serbian public, adding that the Research Forum will continue to address this issue covering various aspects of regional development of Serbia, with the aim of providing assistance to relevant stakeholders.

The Research Forum is a policy research-analytic unit of the European Movement in Serbia where different issues of the Serbian EU integration process are subjected to in-depth and evidence-based critical research followed by relevant outputs in the form of policy proposals for improved reform performance and governance in particular areas within European integration process.

All policy analyses and policy papers of the EMinS’ Research Forum are published in on-line form (in Serbian) at the EMinS Internet page www.emins.org.