At a sitting held on 10 May 2011, the Finance Committee members considered and accepted, in principle, the Bill on Consensual Financial Restructuring of Companies, Bill on Protection of Financial Service Users, Bill amending the Tobacco Law and the Bill on the Confirmation of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income.

The Bill on Consensual Financial Restructuring of Companies enables the redefining of company and creditor debt. One of the reasons for the adoption of the Bill is solving the companies’ problematic outstanding debts and financial difficulties, as well as preventing their accounts from being blocked.

The Bill on Protection of Financial Service Users meets the state’s international obligation under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and harmonises the field with EU directives. In the Bill, the National Bank, its submitter, was guided by the specificities of the domestic market and bank-client relations. In addition, the area of implementation of the law has been expanded outside of the minimal requirements stipulated by the European directive. The Bill aims to, among other things, strengthen the trust in the financial sector and determine the bank service users’ right to protection and information.

The Bill amending the Tobacco Law harmonises the law with the statistic system strategy in the part relating to individual compensation, while the Bill on the Confirmation of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income is a typical agreement like the ones the Republic of Serbia currently has with 47 countries in the world and the realisation of which poses no liabilities to the budget.

Following a short debate the Committee members accepted the Bills in principle, by a majority of votes.

In the continuation, the representatives of the OSCE Mission to Serbia briefed the Committee members on the project they have already begun to realise with the National Assembly and the wish to develop cooperation with the Finance Committee aimed at strengthening the Committee’s role in the analysis and processing of audit reports. The Committee members agreed that the talks with the OSCE Mission be conducted by Committee Deputy Chairperson Branka Ljiljak who would in turn inform the Committee on it at one of the upcoming sittings.

The sitting was chaired by Zoran Krasic, Committee Chairman.