In line with its conclusion adopted at the sitting held on 30 November 2010, the National Assembly’s Finance Committee organised a presentation of the USAID Separation of Powers Programme on the “Role of Deputies in Budget Creation and Adoption - Comparative Experiences”. The presentation was intended for the members of the Finance Committee, interested deputies, employees of the National Assembly’s support service and media representatives.

In her opening address, Branka Ljiljak, Finance Committee Deputy Chairperson, stressed that the budget is an extremely important link in the chain of government and expressed her belief that people still fail to fully appreciate what it represents. She emphasised that the National Assembly is adopting its own budget for the first time this year and thanked the representatives of the USAID Separation of Powers Programme for the support they provided the National Assembly in the preparations for the drafting of the budget.

USAID consultants Zdenka Vidovic, former state auditor of the Republic of Slovenia and Zoran Mladenovic, Deputy-President of the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia, spoke of the behalf of the USAID Separation of Powers Programme about the rules and procedures for budget preparation and the role of the Finance Committee in the budget process.

Speaking about the rules and procedures of budget preparation, as well as Slovenia’s experience, Zdenka Vidovic focused on the procedures and role of the Finance Committee, primarily the activities on the control and consideration of the State Audit Institution report, the role of the parliament in the budget process, budget cycle, steps in the preparation and execution of the budget, financial responsibility, as well as budgetary end-of-year statement, SAI reports and relationship between the parliament and SAI. Finishing her address, she deemed that the success of the parliamentary working bodies, the Finance Committee in particular, depends on the Committee Chairman, deputies and cooperation with the SAI.

Zoran Mladenovic focused on the role of the Finance Committee in the budget process with a special emphasis on its monitoring role, budgeting being taken seriously by the public, legislative framework and the budget adoption process.

He highlighted the importance of the parliament’s role in achieving a state fiscal policy whose effect should be the reduction of the state’s public debt and budget deficit in GDP. In addition, the Finance Committee should make sure the Government does not exceed the funds allocated by the budget, to control the execution of the Government’s budget priorities, control the expenditure of funds gained by the privatisation process, as well as follow the structure of individual expenses in the budget. As for the legislative framework, in his address he focused on the goals that should be achieved via the budget system, management of public finances and adoption and following of the budget calendar. He also spoke of the role of the deputies in the preparation and submission of amendments to the budget, the importance of the audit of the budgetary end-of-year report and types of audit (financial report audit, general state auditor’s model, audit court model, business purpose audit, with mandatory public access to the audit), as well as the need to discuss the audits both by the Finance Committee and other parliamentary committees. He stated that in the public finance sphere, the National Assembly should consider and adopt fiscal rules and state debt management strategies, macro-fiscal framework and structure, classification, appropriation type and duration.

Mladenovic dedicates part of his address to the “Quality” of the budget process in Serbia and the way it was evaluated by the international institution surveying the openness of the 2010 budget (Open Budget Index 2010 – OBI). Having conducted research in 94 countries, Serbia was placed in the medium category of countries allowing the public some information about the budget, but which is not completely clear to the public. Serbia lacks a “civil budget”, half-year reports on the income, expenditure and credits, as well as a comprehensive report on the audit of the budgetary end-of-year statement. Parliamentary oversight was estimated as mediocre (not enough debate time on the budget at the National Assembly and underdeveloped practice of budget debate by committees), and the SAI surveillance was deemed insufficiently strong.

In the closing address, Committee Deputy Chairperson Branka Ljiljak declared the presentation useful, repeating that the budget is a complex matter and adding that the inclusion of the non-governmental sector into the drafting of the “civil budget” would be welcome as it would help make it more easily understood. She deemed that, from 2007 to the present, the Finance Committee has achieved significant progress in its work.

National Assembly Secretary-General Veljko Odalovic, who attended the presentation, called for a joint presentation or a roundtable between the National Assembly and the Government about the Government’s budget creation with a special focus on the importance of a budgetary calendar aimed at identifying problems and eliminating them in the adoption of the 2012 budget.