REGULATING LOBBYING IN SERBIA: THE VIEWS OF KEY STAKEHOLDERS

Hereafter are the views of Government Officials (State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration; Head of Government Office for Regulatory Reform and Regulatory Impact Analysis); Parliament (Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia); Chamber of Commerce (Serbian Chamber of Commerce Vice-President); Serbian Lobbyists Association (President; Vice-President for Internal Relations and Development); Journalists Association (Secretary General);  NGOs (Programme Director at NGO Transparency Serbia).

Government

“In Serbia lobbying is still a notion triggering most often negative associations. In Serbia, when the word ‘lobbying’ is mentioned, the reference is typically to a controversial process entailing corruption. In fact, in these parts, the citizens practically equate corruption with lobbying. Thankfully, the truth is quite the opposite. Lobbying also serves to preclude corruption and this is something that must be explained to the citizens. True enough, lobbying implies certain influence on public bodies, on legislative and executive branches of power in the decision-making process. Certain societal groups championing an idea strive to promote it in the society at large. To this end they’re carrying out many activities seeking to incorporate their idea into laws or decisions made by the ruling class. Problems, though, may occur if abuses come to pass as part of such a process. This is exactly why lobbying must be rendered lawful and legally regulated. This is why the state should pass a law on lobbying in order to lay down the framework for lobbying, rules for lobbyists as well as stipulate penal sanctions for a failure to comply with the set rules." (GORDANA STAMENIĆ, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration of Serbia).

“ It goes without saying that lobbyists – irrespective of whether these would be non-governmental organisations (and we’ve got about 30,000 registered NGOs in Serbia), associations or individual representatives of businesses or professional associations, or registered individual lobbyists who will surely be professional and supervised by those issuing licences confirming that they are doing this job in an effective and professional manner – must have what it takes in order to lobby properly and that’s clear and expert argumentation corroborating what they’re lobbying for. If lobbyists lack argumentation, decision-makers must be aware of their duty to respect one of the most important tenets of good regulatory practice, and that is responsibility for a decision taken. Consequences must be clearly stipulated in a quality assessment of impact on what’s on the table – the subject matter of the lobbying initiative at hand.” (MIRA PROKOPIJEVIĆ, Head of Government Office for Regulatory Reform and Regulatory Impact Analysis).

Parliament

“I’d love if order were to be finally introduced in this country so that everyone knew who could be a lobbyist, under which conditions someone might be a lobbyist as well as that he/she had appropriate formal credentials on the basis of which I’d know he/she was a lobbyist. Of course, I should know by default that such a person satisfied certain requirements. A lot will have to be done with regard to fighting corruption, and I think lobbying and regulation of lobbying in this respect will be tremendously useful if we’re to make things more transparent, to ensure that anyone coming over to lobby for something present first an adequate contract on lobbying services. A veil of secrecy cannot be completely removed from everything, but by and large lobbying activities should be rendered highly transparent so that everyone knows who’s ultimately lobbying for whom.” (VLADIMIR CVIJAN, Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia).

Chamber of Commerce

“Someone who’d like to get involved in lobbying must, on one hand, possess many specific characteristics and skills, but, on the other, he/she cannot become a lobbyist overnight. You can’t join the ranks of this profession if you’re lacking, above all, something we simply refer to as dignity, more so than work experience, let alone moral and political eligibility. So we’re approaching it from an ethical angle with respect to all of this. Now, this and next year, we’ve got a sort of the second chapter of privatisation. This practically means that qualitative changes to a large number of company takeovers through privatisation are now taking place, and it’s high time for such a law to be passed given the situation we’re in. If the lobbying bill is not adopted...  if the law is not passed, then we, in this country of Serbia, and our frail economy will always only be the object of lobbying, and lobbyists from other countries will be coming to lobby for their own interests here, in this country of Serbia, where we’ll just be silent observers of something already slipping out of our hands." (MIROSLAV MILETIĆ, Serbian Chamber of Commerce Vice-President).

Serbian Lobbyists Association

“Some conditions must be met so that you could enforce the lobbying act. It isn’t really a problem as we have seen in Macedonia – to draft  a piece of legislation. But will such a legislation actually be implemented in Serbia depends on many factors. We need to raise public awareness in this respect, that this is necessary, that it should be transparent, that Serbia needs it. Through education you must change perception of lobbying in Serbia for the better and stamp out any negative connotations perceived to be linked to corruption.” (ZORAN DOMAZET, Serbian Lobbyists Association President).

“A lobbyist needn’t know everything and indeed doesn’t know all the areas for which he/she may lobby, but a lobbyist has something others don’t. Lobbyists have a sort of exclusivity which is granted by the state. Legitimacy is granted by the state by way of issuing lobbying licences to a specific group of people. Few people. That’s because it’s easier for the state to communicate with a smaller number of people. Therefore a professional association may not gain access to a legislator directly but hire a lobbyist to present its arguments to the legislator. In what way? A professional association draws up a contract to be signed by a registered and licensed lobbyist who may go to a parliament or the seat of a legislative body, competent body, etc. The contract is signed. Under the contract, the lobbyist takes on an obligation to do two things. Firstly, he/she undertakes an obligation to compile argumentation in favour of what the professional association would like to achieve. So he/she must back up its position with argumentation. Secondly, the lobbyist assumes an obligation to deliver and present the arguments to a competent body. Official records and minutes on the proceedings must be filed so that a competent decision-maker could accept or reject the initiative providing an explanation of his/her decision. Consequently, once such a contract has been drawn up and lobbying process started, a registered lobbyist, who’s authorised to sign such a contract, will seek an appointment with representatives of the competent state body. Therefore, under the current bill’s provisions, civil servants cannot prevent lobbyists from carrying on with their activity. There must be an official record specifying what the purpose of the meeting has been and what the consequences are. A documentary evidence in writing is a must. If something takes place in breach of the procedure, rules and regulations, such a record will be missing. Lobbyists are advocating societal interests meaning that they’re working on the passage, amendments and changes to general legal acts, not the individual ones." (BALŠA KAŠĆELAN, Vice-President for Internal Relations and Development of the Serbian Lobbyists Association).

Journalists Association

“Lobbying is here with us, that’s a fact. The idea now is to professionalise and take it to another level. First of all, transparency must be ensured. Journalists themselves are often targeted by various lobbyists. In fact, these people are more of PRs than actual lobbyists, but there are also, of course, strategic public relations which are much closer to lobbying as such. Many people are trying to persuade journalists or media outlets through lobbying groups that their idea or investment is the real deal or the best deal for that matter. This is happening on a daily basis, but, in principle, journalists know how to do their job and will never take for granted that the person who’s approached them to explain a problem is the only one knowledgeable about the problem or investment in question. They are aware that this person is only a party to the deal at hand. When it comes to such complex issues, journalists should consult as many sources as possible in compliance with the professional code of conduct. But we, the journalists, are only humans so we’re also lobbying for our own professional interests, and I think this aspect to public advocacy should be designated and given an appropriate place in this law. There are many issues for which people possess adequate expertise and competences so they can tussle for it given that their own interests are at stake and bearing in mind they’ve got good contacts like journalists typically do.” (NINO BRAJOVIĆ, Serbian Journalist Association Secretary General).

NGOs

“Our goal in this society should be to do everything possible so that no one should require a middleman. Whoever’s fighting to protect his/her own interests or for public interest doesn’t need an intermediary in his/her efforts to exert influence on legislative and executive bodies of the government. The said bodies must be obliged to consider every proposal under their respective jurisdictions if the proposal in question has been presented in an appropriate form. They must also enclose an explanation of their decisions. In this way everyone may influence decision-makers." (NEMANJA NENADIĆ, Programme Director at NGO Transparency Serbia).