At the sitting held on 28 October, the members of the Task Group for the Drafting of the Bill on the Serbian Immigrant Society considered the draft version of the Bill on the Serbian Immigrant Society.

Task Group member from the ranks of deputies, representatives of the ministries of the diaspora, finance, education and culture, as well as a representative of the Serbian Immigrant Society took part in the proceedings.

The representatives of the Ministry of the Diaspora appealed to their colleagues from the other ministries, members of the Task Group, to join the drafting of the Bill and thus ensure a better quality text, since the Ministry lacks sufficient Bill drafting experience. The deputies complained of some of the provisions of the draft, particularly on the role and competence the Bill gives the Ministry of Diaspora. They said that the Society loses its independence, the number of employees in the Society is low, the number of Executive Board members is cut, and they also criticised the manner director appointed, financing, terminological discrepancies between the text and the laws and Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. The objections were also addressed to the manner in which the rights and obligations of both the Society and competent Ministry are defined, bringing the Society, some deputies believe, into the position of Ministry’s agency since its director, as well as 4 of the 5 Executive Board members are appointed by the Government. They said that the Society thus loses its independence and the operation of the organisation that has tackled the issue of expatriates for 60 years should be made possible. The debate also gave voice to the need to define the Society’s organisational status so that it might be financed by the Republic of Serbia budget. The Task Group members agreed that it would be very important to have the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Bill, as well as to clearly specify the terminology used in it particularly the term of expatriate, unheard of in the country’s current regulations. They also pointed out the need to adjust the Bill to the Culture Law, the parts pertaining to Serbs living abroad, as well as educational laws and rulebooks adopted by the Ministry of Education to regulate the issue of receiving education in Serbian abroad. The Task Group members also considered the proposed number of the Society’s Executive Board members and suggested that an increase of the EB members should be considered so that all the institutions the Society closely works with would be equally represented in it.

By the end of the proceedings, the Task Group members agreed that it is necessary to acquire the position and opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Bill, harmonise the terminology with the existing laws and the Constitution and in 10 days forward written comments and suggestions to be incorporated into the draft text which would be discussed at the next sitting.

The sitting was chaired by Janko Veselinovic, Task Group Chairman.