In his opening address, National Assembly Deputy Secretary General Radoslav Vujovic said that the roundtable aims to promote and boost cooperation between the National Assembly and independent state bodies. According to him, the National Assembly would continue to strengthen its capacities and raise the level of expertise of its staff, which the conclusions and recommendations of this and previous roundtables organised by the USAID Judicial Reform and Government Accountability Project (JRGA) will greatly contribute to.

Thomas Bridle, international consultant for parliamentary oversight, presented the key results of the previously held roundtables, stressing that international examples and practice have proved relevant for the five priority recommendations suggested. He also listed the proposed steps based on these practices which would help implement these recommendations.

Addressing the participants of the roundtable, Anti-Corruption Agency Director Tatjana Babic opined that cooperation between all the state bodies is an important factor in the fight against corruption. She stressed that the National Assembly had shown it is ready to cooperate with the Agency, and commended the roundtables as a very useful venue for exchanging opinions and experiences.

Radoslav Sretenovic, State Audit Institution Director, spoke about the SAI’s activities and role. He gave a positive assessment of the cooperation with the National Assembly, emphasising the key role the competent Assembly Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending plays in the oversight of the State Audit Institution. Sretenovic added that the State Audit Institution and the National Assembly need to maintain a close, yet optimal cooperation.

Nevena Petrusic, Commissioner for Protection of Equality, said that there has to be a clear mechanism to monitor the implementation of the recommendations given by independent bodies, as well as a mechanism which would allow the independent bodies insight into all the stages of the legislative process.

Deputy Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Stanojla Mandic stressed that, this year, the cooperation with the National Assembly has been much more intensive and adding that the Commissioner’s Report was discussed by the plenum and the recommendations have been included in the Action Plan.

Ombudsman’s Secretary General Jasminka Jakovljevic applauded the discussion of the report by the plenum, declaring the Government’s quarterly reports to the National Assembly on the implementation of the recommendations very useful.

After the representatives of the five independent state bodies had addressed the roundtable, the MPs and National Assembly Support Service staff opened a discussion. On the occasion, they pointed out the need for an even more efficient cooperation between the National Assembly and independent state bodies. They opined that the independent bodies’ reports and communications should reflect the National Assembly’s needs more. They also discussed and selected priority recommendations from the previous roundtables and exchanged opinions on how to jointly implement these recommendations.