The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic greeted the attendants of the First Public Hearing held in the new legislature of the National Assembly, emphasizing that public debates are an example of good practice that will be met with a positive opinion in the Report on the work of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia both in the country, and the European Parliament and the European Commission.

In his introductory address, Dacic said that the institute of public hearings is an important instrument of parliamentary practice which represents a significant step forward in the supervision of the work of ministers and other civil servants compared to the traditional type of supervision achieved mainly via parliamentary questions.

“I would like to greet everyone present on behalf of the National Assembly as this is the first public hearing organized under the Parliament’s new term, and thank you for coming and for respecting our advice and proposal to have as many such events as possible in the following period in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The organization of such public debates is an example of good practice that will greatly contribute to the positive reports on the work of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in our country, as well as in the European Parliament and European Commission. There are two important laws on the agenda - the Bill on Digital Property and the Bill on Fiscalisation, so I wish you a successful public hearing", said the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic.

In her introductory address, Committee Chairperson Dr Aleksandra Tomic expressed satisfaction that such important topics as fiscalisation and digitalization are being opened and that the MPs are obliged to present to the citizens all the improvements these legislative changes would bring, adding that public hearings on as many new laws as possible would be a priority for the National Assembly.

Presenting the Bill on Fiscalisation, State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Slavica Savicic said that the Serbian Government’s strategic goal is suppression of the grey economy and rapid and efficient work of the Tax Administration. She said that the comprehensive analysis of the existing fiscalisation system found that the fiscal devices introduced more than 15 years ago are largely obsolete thanks to significant technological advances in the area, that the process of certification of fiscal cash registers and printers is complicated, time consuming and very expensive, resulting in a series of flaws in the process that make it impossible for the Tax Administration to efficiently analyse the received data.

Dragan Demirovic, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Finance, singled out certain segments of the Bill on Fiscalisation, pointing out that it envisages in retail each check is fiscalised at the moment of sale and the Tax Administration receives data on issued fiscal invoices via a permanent internet connection in real time. In addition, the Bil on Fiscalisation proposes that the fiscalisation subject at the moment of retail trade, including the received advance for future retail trade, issue a fiscal invoice using an electronic fiscal device whose use has been previously approved by the Tax Administration, with the Tax Administration compiling a register of elements of electronic fiscal devices whose use is approved, while the subject of fiscalisation is left with the opportunity to independently develop and implement a device for their business needs, which the Tax Administration approves before use.

The Bill on Digital Property was presented by the State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Sasa Stevanovic. He said that the regulations in this area are still in development, both at the global and at the level of the European Union. He said that the Republic of Serbia has recognized global trends and following the examples of certain jurisdictions, such as France and Malta, decided to approach regulations in this area systematically through legislation. Stevanovic said that for the abovmentioned reasons public policy documents in Serbia have not yet provided the foundations for further elaboration in this area, but that the Prime Minister's 2020 expose announced the adoption of this regulation. One of the examples is the adoption of an incentive, developmental and globally competitive Law on Digital Property, the adoption of which is expected by the end of 2020. Its adoption is expected to promote growth of domestic start-ups in the field of "blockchain" technology, as well as facilitate financing of innovative ideas. The State Secretary said that at the moment digital property is explicitly regulated only by the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, exclusively for the purpose of preventing criminals and their groups from abusing virtual currencies in their illegal activities.

Marko Jankovic, President of the Securities Commission, Dragana Stanic, Vice-Governor of the National Bank of Serbia and Dejan Devic, Director General of the Directorate for Legislative and Legal Affairs at the National Bank of Serbia also spoke at the public hearing.

After the ensuing debate, the Committee Chairperson thanked all the participants for the quality discussion and expert explanations of the proposed laws.