The roundtable was held as part of the Fourth National Budget Forum with the slogan "Towards a Higher Transparency and Control of the Budget Process”.
Opening the roundtable at the National Assembly House, Radojko Obradovic said that the very Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly limit its role, as well as the role of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending, in the control of the budget process considering that they do not allow enough time for the parliamentary groups to have a more detailed plenary debate on the budget proposal and accompanying documents. Also, more sittings of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending need to be held in the period between the adoption of the budget proposal by the Government and the beginning of the assembly discussion, allowing the analysis of the proposed budget to be divided into several thematic parts, stressed Obradovic.
Following the debate which involved representatives of the National Assembly Service, international and civic organisations, the participants adopted the following recommendations on how to ensure a more pronounced role of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending in the control of the budget process, such as: amending the budget calendar so as to allow more time for analysis and control of the budget procedure and its execution; adopting the final budget statement for the previous year, before the adoption of next year’s budget so as to ensure better control of public spending; securing a higher involvement of the Fiscal Council, State Audit Institution and non-governmental organisations in the budget analysis and adoption process; convening more sittings of the competent Committee and organising public hearings in the course of the budget adoption process; including the National Assembly in the budget drafting process; ensuring public access to data on specific expenses in the budget, as well as creating conditions for the introduction of program budgeting. This also means amending the National Assembly Rules of Procedure and the laws governing the sphere of budget drafting and execution, concluded Obradovic.
A roundtable on “Transparency of the Budget Process” was also held at the Forum, parallel to the roundtable "Towards a More Pronounced Role of the Finance Committee in the Control of the Budget Process”, where the first Citizens’ Guide through the Republic of Serbia Budget was presented and the participants adopted recommendations on how to make the budget drafting, adoption and execution process more accessible to the public.
In the course of the Fourth National Budget Forum, organised by BIRN and Pro Concept with the support of the UK Embassy and USAID and gathering MPs, ministry representatives, representatives of the National Assembly Service, international and non-governmental organisations, the participants discussed the main characteristics and projected results of the 2013 budget policy. The participants of the Forum noted that the 2013 budget had been adopted within the legal framework and drafted in consultation with the Fiscal Council and international fiscal institutions, and a Fiscal Strategy had been adopted parallel with the budget. They also stressed that the budget would face the risks of realisation, which called for a synchronized fiscal and monetary policy.