The Republic of Serbia has started a new cycle of drafting “Economic Reform Programme” – (ERP) for the period 2023-2025. The first important step in the process of drafting this document was drafting a preliminary list of structural reforms that were recognized as significant in removing obstacles to economic growth and development, as well as in strengthening competitiveness of the economy in the next three-year period.
In accordance with the guidelines of the European Commission, structural reforms, which normally represent Chapter V of the ERP document, are organized in thirteen areas, in order to provide a broad overview of social and economic challenges. These areas include: public finance management, green transition, digital transformation, business environment and reduction of grey economy, research, development and innovation, economic integration reforms, energy market reforms, transport market reforms, agriculture, industry and services, education and skills, employment and labour market, social protection and inclusion and health care. Within the mentioned areas, three key challenges were singled out: Increasing employment, especially of the young, women and vulnerable groups and social protection against poverty, creating a more favourable business environment for investments, as well as greening the power sector and full energy market opening.
In order to ensure the widest possible consensus when choosing structural reforms, in the past period, intensive interdepartmental consultations were held with representatives of the Working Group for the development and monitoring of the implementation of the Program of Economic Reforms.
A preliminary list of 20 structural reforms will be made available to the public online, via the websites of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Policy Secretariat from 14 to 28 October 2022. All interested parties may submit their comments and suggestions on the Preliminary List of Structural Reforms to the following email address: erp@mfin.gov.rs by 28 October 2022. The further process of preparing the ERP 2023-2025 document will focus on improvement of the proposed structural reforms.
As a candidate country for EU membership, in its pre-accession period, the Republic of Serbia prepares a document called the Economic Reforms Program on annual basis. This is a strategic document for planning economic policy and managing reforms, which are key to improving competitiveness and encouraging new jobs, facilitating social inclusion, as well as for meeting the economic criteria in the EU accession process.
The latest ERP 2022-2024 document, as well as the Recommendations of the ECOFIN Council from May 2022 are available at: