At its fourth sitting, held on 16 March 2006, the Local Self-Government Committee discussed the Activity Plan of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government. The sitting was chaired by Savo Urosevic, and attended by officials of the Ministry and the Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities.

Presenting the Plan, the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Zoran Loncar, underlined that decentralisation was a strategic aim of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The decentralisation process was initiated in 2002, with the adoption of the current Local Self-Government Act, but the existing legal framework – and above all the current Constitution – was a great obstacle to continued decentralisation. The Act was essentially sound, but needs to be changed to remove shortcomings appearing in practice. Political consciousness at the local level is not strong enough to allow implementation of certain solutions contained in the Act, mainly in the field of organising local bodies. To alleviate the inefficiency of local authorities, the Ministry is to amend the Act after public discussion with all interested local officials.

Mr Loncar also announced the drafting of a special law to regulate the status of Belgrade to provide rights enjoyed by European capitals. To further decentralise government new laws need to be drafted to regulate local elections, property and funding, as well as the status of local government officials. Local authorities have begun downsizing, following national government policies; the number of local officials has gone down by 11.6% in 2005 alone.

Decentralisation of government is a precondition for democratisation; investing in local self-government means investing in Serbia’s future, Loncar said.