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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Improved cooperation between civil society, public administration bodies

Belgrade, 14 December 2022

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic assessed today that cooperation between civil society and public administration bodies is very important, pointing out that our country, in the context of EU guidelines, allocates significant budget funds to help associations and to other civil society organisations for the implementation of programmes and projects.

At an event “Presentation of the Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement Region for the Period from 2021 to 2027”, Brnabic pointed out that there is a whole series of regulations governing the field of civil society, which, thanks to this, has been significantly improved in recent years.

The Prime Minister stated that representatives of civil society are currently participating in the development of a new personal data protection strategy for the period from 2023 to 2030, as an extremely important document, according to which, if Serbia adopts it, it will be one of the first countries in Europe.

These are ethical guidelines for the development, application and use of reliable and responsible artificial intelligence, which will determine the direction in providing a legal framework in the area of personal data protection with the use of software solutions, she pointed out.

According to her, in the process of passing media laws, in accordance with the media strategy and action plan, civil society organisations, media and journalist associations also participate.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the government adopted the Strategy for the creation of a stimulating environment for the development of civil society for the period from 2022 to 2030, as well as the action plan for its implementation, expressing special gratitude to the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue.

At the same time, Brnabic announced that the first meeting in this mandate with representatives of the civil sector will be held on 21 December.

Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Tomislav Zigmanov noted that the ministry applied various mechanisms for cooperation with civil society, which were recognized by public administration institutions, as well as the international community.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret said that the role of civil society is very important in understanding and bringing public administration closer to citizens, pointing out that, when it comes to the EU accession process, civil society is considered a key criterion that candidate countries must fulfil.