Back in the year 2021 the platform „eConsultations“ was set up under the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia on the establishment of platform „eConsultations“ with the goal of enabling easier participation of interested parties/public in the process of preparation and adoption of not only laws, but also of other regulations and acts, by possibility for the public to be informed through this platform of whether certain law or regulation is in the process of preparation or of when shall the public hearing regarding a draft law take place, as well as by possibility for the interested parties/public to take part in the process of preparation and adoption of these acts by providing comments electronically (online).
In September 2024 the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted a new decision – the Decision on managing and manner of use of the platform „eConsultations“ which brought certain changes in comparison to the initially established system, mainly in terms of somewhere different distribution of competencies for managing and conducting of expert tasks related to the platform, but without affecting the substance and purpose of the platform “eConsultations” – which is that this is a unique electronic platform for conducting of consultations and public hearings in the process of preparation and adoption of regulations (and, pursuant to the wording of the new decision of the Government, planning documents).
In the light of adoption of the new Decision of the Government on managing and manner of use of the platform „eConsultations“ it would be interesting to make a short overview of the main features of this platform, and thereof enable a wider circle of parties that are potentially interested in the process of preparation and adoption of (certain) regulations and that would „have something to say“ in the context of amendments/supplements/introduction of new regulations proposed by public bodies, to get familiarized with the possibilities offered through this platform, or to remind them that this way they can follow the activities of public bodies before one law is yet in the phase of law proposal, i.e. before some other regulation is adopted.
What is the first thing platform „eConsultations“ provides us with – Information. All relevant information on consultations and public hearings in regard to regulations and planning documents adopted by public bodies within their competencies are published on the platform „eConsultations“.
Thus, instead of having interested parties search e.g. web pages of different ministries in order to be informed on whether the preparation or adoption of new regulations or amendments and supplements of existing ones are planned, the regulations and other acts in the process of preparation (working drafts) or in the process of public hearing (draft laws), proposed by different authorities (public bodies), are listed in chronological order (from latest) on the platform „eConsultations“.
Platform also provides information on the time period in which comments/suggestions/remarks in the process of preparation of proposal of certain regulations or planning documents (or their revisions) are being collected, i.e. on the time period in which comments regarding certain draft law are being collected, i.e. on time period when public hearing is conducted.
The public hearing regarding the draft Law on seeds and planting materials of agricultural and ornamental plants, published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, was active until not so long ago (until 19 November 2024), same as the notice on collecting comments on proposed amendments of the program for improvement of management of public policies and regulatory reform 2021-2025 with Action plan (until 15 November 2024), published by the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies. Thus, regulations, i.e. planning documents in the process of preparation from various fields are all publicly available in one place – the platform “eConsultations”.
Who is obliged to use the platform „eConsultations“ – in connection with the previous point, it should be mentioned that the state administrative bodies are the ones that are obliged to timely publish complete information on consultations and public hearings in connection with the regulations within their scope of competencies on the platform „eConsultations“, while autonomous provinces and local self-government units may do so (but are not under obligation to do so). Therefore, if you are interested in activities on the autonomous province or local level, it is not certain that the subject of your interest shall be visible and available on this platform.
What other conveniences are available at the platform „eConsultations“ – besides providing information on active phases of consultations in the process of preparation of certain regulation/planning documents, or on active public hearings regarding certain draft laws, platform also provides information on how can one send/submit its comments/suggestions.
Registration with platform „eConsultations“ – besides these general information/features that are available regardless of whether you are a registered user of the platform or not, platform „eConsultations“ provides the possibility to become a registered user (individual or as a representative of an organization). In order to register one needs to use either a qualified electronic certificate or ConsentID mobile app. Besides the possibility of submitting comments to working versions of regulations/planning documents, i.e. within public hearings regarding draft laws, registration enables for its users other, additional features (e.g. selection of fields of interest for which you wish to be provided with notifications).
By Marija Vukcevic, Senior Associate, JPM Partners
