In order for the public administration to efficiently, effectively and professionally respond to the needs of citizens and provide quality public services in accordance with the principles and standards of “good governance”, a part of the reform activities is also the increase in transparency of its work and the improvement of ethical standards and responsibility in the performance of public affairs administration.
Active participation of citizens in the formulation and implementation of public policies is one of the key assumptions of the transparent work of the administration. In the Republic of Serbia, the obligations of the public to the work of the bodies and public administration organizations, as well as the right of the public to access information of public importance, have been established. In accordance with the general principle that the quality of public policies depends on the provision of public participation throughout the decision-making process, from the definition of the policy concept to its implementation, the amendments to the Law on State Administration and the Law on the Planning System, the process of conducting general consultations is foreseen before the public discussion, in the process of passing regulations.
In 2012, Serbia became a participant in the Open Government Partnership, an international initiative aimed at providing support and greater engagement of governments around the world in order to improve the integrity, transparency, efficiency and accountability of public authorities through building public confidence, cooperating with organizations civil society, empowerment of citizens in governance, fight against corruption, access to information, use of new technologies.
