PUBLIC POLICY AND REGULATORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN THE SERBIAN LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Impact assessment of public policy documents and regulations is an analytical process aiming to assess the positive and negative effects that public policy measures or solutions enacted in regulations can have on the population and economic entities. Depending on whether the impact assessment takes place in the process of developing documents or after their adoption, application and evaluation of the achieved results, there are ex-post and ex-ante impact assessments. In the Republic of Serbia, this area is regulated by the Act on the Planning System and the Regulation on the Methodology of Public Policy Management, Impact Analysis of Public Policies and Regulations, and the Content of Individual Public Policy Documents. The latest amendments to the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination have introduced provisions that emphasize the obligation and importance of public authorities to take into account the principle of equality when conducting an ex-ante impact assessment. By applying the normative method, the author presents the basic elements of the planning system of the Republic of Serbia and the procedure for conducting impact assessment, indicating that this process is identical for both public policy documents and regulations.