As part of the harmonising of domestic legislation with that of the EU, we are currently working on the Draft Umbrella Law on Services, which should provide the freedom for companies to establish businesses in other member states and the freedom to offer cross-border services in other member states without being obliged to establish a company, branch or affiliate there
Normative activity is a demanding and complex procedure of preparing draft laws, other regulations and general acts, which is preceded by the process of monitoring the situation in the field of applying laws under the scope of the work of the Ministry and results in the proposing of appropriate solutions for amendments to regulations.
The Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications encompasses an extremely important and broad segment of the economic activity of the Republic of Serbia, and thus its participation in shaping the Government’s policy through normative activity is crucial to improving areas that fall within the scope of the Ministry’s work, from the perspectives of both the economy and citizens. Considering the aforementioned, the Ministry’s normative activities are numerous and varied.
Normative activity implies close collaboration between all sectors within the Ministry, both on ex-ante and ex-post analysis, and on the formulation and harmonisation of provisions, as well as continuous cooperation and communication with other bodies and holders of public authority. During the process of preparing and adopting regulations, in addition to the prescribed procedure, the Ministry strives to further enable the participation of the public, the NGO sector and all stakeholders, considering numerous initiatives and proposals in order to identify an optimal solution, through normative activities, that will enable further development.
The circumstances imposed by the pandemic demand the swift identifying of a solution that will not come at the expense of quality and where the shaping of legislative solutions will take into account the interests of all groups
The adoption of a certain general act isn’t an end in itself, but rather serves to establish a suitable base for the proper functioning and development of economic activity within the scope of the competences of this Ministry, and for the benefit of society as a whole. A comprehensive approach isn’t only essential when it comes to the preparing of draft laws, but also when it comes to bylaws that more closely regulate certain narrower areas.
When it comes to normative activity, a special challenge is represented by the process of integrating the Republic of Serbia into the EU, which requires the harmonising and aligning of the domestic legislative framework with the EU acquis. When it comes to harmonisation, one of many examples is the Draft Law on Services, which is currently in the process of being adopted and which represents an umbrella law that should enable the freedom of movement of services that implies the freedom to do business in other member states and freedom to provide services cross-border, i.e. occasional provisions of services in other member states, without being obliged to establish a company, branch or affiliate in that country.
If normative activity is observed in the light of the newly emerged situation brought about by the novel coronavirus, it is clear that the challenges are more numerous and that the circumstances demand the swift identifying of a solution that will not come at the expense of quality and will take into account the interests of all groups. The Ministry is managing, through numerous normative activities, to identify adequate solutions to current issues arising in the scope of its work. The plan is for normative activities to further intensify the future, both in terms of harmonisation with EU law and in terms of improving the domestic legislative framework.