The document proposal was presented by Mirko Popovic of Belgrade Open School. The reasons why the document proposal was drafted, said Popovic, were the citizens’ right to be informed of and participate in the decision-making process in environmental protection matters. The four principles the proposal is based on are establishing one ministry to deal with environmental matters, establishing an independent funding system for the environmental protection policy and opening a public debate on it, establishing a functional policy to combat climate change and respecting the principle of sustainable development and implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy. The proposed document, drafted by representatives of all the 58 non-governmental organisations, also contains recommendations about the establishment of a lasting mechanism of cooperation between the civil sector, legislative and executive power and including civil society representatives into the talks on Serbia’s EU membership relating to environmental protection.

Afterwards, Dr Olivera Zurovac Kuzman, representative of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, informed the Committee members on the OSCE Mission’s support activity as regards the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the previous period which primarily concerned supporting the implementation of the legal framework regulating environmental matters, supporting the development of environmental safety in the Western Balkans and supporting the citizens’ right to have access to information. She shared a proposal of joint OSCE Mission and National Assembly activities for the upcoming period, among them a seminar for the members of the Environmental Protection Committee on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention, in Sremski Karlovci.

At the sitting, the Committee reviewed and accepted the proposal of MP Gordana Comic to hold a public hearing in the first week of October 2013 to discuss the control over the implementation of environmental regulations and supervision of the execution of penalties issued. The Committee also adopted the proposal of MP Ivan Karic to hold a public hearing in the first week of November 2013 to discuss the national priorities of the international aid to the Republic of Serbia in the period 2014-2017, with projections leading to 2020.

The sitting was chaired by Milica Vojic Markovic, Committee Chairperson.