The public hearing was opened by the Chairman of the Committee on Spatial Planning, Transport, Infrastructure and Telecommunications Ugljesa Markovic who welcomed the attendees, expressing his satisfaction with the public interest in the amendments to this law. He reminded the attending that the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Planning and Construction had entered parliamentary procedure on 8 May 2023 and would be discussed at the Fourth Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, 13th Legislature.

Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic also addressed the audience, saying that the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Planning and Construction contains many innovations such as the introduction of an electronic building permit issuance system. He said that the chief objectives behind the drafting of the Bill speeding up the process of issuing construction permits, ensuring greater transparency of the procedure, harmonising all construction-related regulations with EU regulations, as well as the promotion of green construction and electromobility.

The Minister added that the Bill also insists that, when confirming the start of construction works, an insurance policy against damage to third parties should be issued, in order to protect the citizens living in the vicinity of the construction site. He said that environmental protection was also taken into consideration, stipulating that proof of the movement of construction waste must be submitted before obtaining a use permit for construction. The master construction book will become electronic, which will reduce the incidence of illegal construction waste dumps and the Bill proposes introducing elements of green construction. All buildings built on a gross area of more than 10,000 square meters and public purpose buildings will have to be built according to green building certificates and an incentive of 10% discount for construction land is provided for the construction of energy-efficient buildings. Vesic said that the promotion of electromobility is also of particular importance, as it will provide electric chargers in commercial and residential buildings, depending on the number of parking spaces, and there is also an obligation for all gas stations on highways and expressways to have electric chargers, comparable to the number of gas filling stations.

Another novelty is the introduction of energy passports, which will be mandatory for new construction and without which the purchase and sale of real estate will not be possible. The Bill also clarifies the provisions for the construction of solar parks and increases the number of authorised persons for construction documents issuance procedures, based on the ordinance to be passed by the relevant ministry.

Vesic also announced the re-opening of the Spatial Planning Agency, as well as conservation supervision for the protection of monuments and cultural and historical assets. Furthermore, the Minister spoke about the protection of national parks and the proposal of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality asking for easier access to ramps for the disabled during the construction of residential and commercial buildings.

At the public hearing, special attention was drawn to the proposal to abolish conversion with a fee for certain categories of persons, while the position of other categories, which according to earlier regulations were obliged to pay conversion fees, will be regulated by special regulations. Abolishing the conversion fee would free up significant areas of construction land for construction, which would have a positive effect on increasing the value of the construction works and growth of GDP of the Republic of Serbia, Vesic stressed.

The introductory speeches of the Committee Chairman and the Minister were followed by a discussion and at the end of the public hearing, Ugljesa Markovic thanked the members and deputy members of the Committee on Spatial Planning, Transport, Infrastructure and Telecommunications, heads of the National Assembly parliamentary groups, representatives of the National Assembly committees, representatives of the Serbian Government’s competent ministry, representatives of the professional public and civil society organizations for their constructive suggestions.