Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, Rodoljub Sabic has received today expert mission of the European Commission, which is in its visit to Belgrade. Members of the Mission have during long and open talks expressed their interest for measures and activities Serbia is undertaking in fight against corruption, for effects of those measures and shortcomings in their contents and implementation. In the same context, they were interested in efforts of the Commissioner for Information regarding implementation and enhancing the freedom to access information and bigger transparency, that is, visibility in public authorities' operations.
In relation to that, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic has stated the following:
„ EU Commission experts have been acquainted with our country's activities on normative plan. They know that a significant number of laws, strategies, action plans and other documents have been adopted, and that several relevant documents have been ratified.
However, they rightfully stress that adopting documents can not by itself secure the desired effects. More difficult but also more important is to secure their practical implementation. In that context, I think that it is necessary to start without delay decreasing serious gap between the proclaimed and normative on one side and reality on the other side. Indicative is for instance, chronically high degree of lack of discipline by the authorities or officials in power regarding the obligations they have according to the laws regulating public procurements, freedom to access information or conflict of interest, and even more indicative is that such behavior passes practically unpunished. Not less indicative is that practically all independent supervisory institutions are facing numerous, often incomprehensible obstacles in securing conditions for normal functioning, because of which some of them remain "paper tigers" for years. Maybe the most drastic example is State Audit Act. It has been enacted in September 2005, but even today not all conditions for its functioning have been secured.
The talk has confirmed my evaluations regarding the necessity to enhance transparency of governmental operations. Raising the level of transparency in the work of the authorities, especially when we speak about using public money and resources, can definitively be relatively quickly implemented, as cheap but efficient means in the fight against abuses and corruption.
A special topic of talks was the application of the new Personal Data Protection Act. I have informed them about activities which I undertake, mostly in cooperation with international subjects, about compiling Strategy for Law Implementation, which I intend to propose to the Government of Serbia in due time and about compilation of the Law Guide that would simplify exercising and protection of legally guaranteed rights for the citizens also by some other activities. It is good that the guests have positively evaluated those activities. However, it must be clear that without necessary authorizations, which an independent supervisory authority must have in line with the EU standards, as well as without logistics, spatial and staff preconditions for securing of which obstacles still haven't been removed, it would not be possible to achieve full law implementation.
At the end of talks, I turned the attention of my guests to the fact that for a great majority of our citizens, European integrations and visa regime liberalization have extraordinary importance and each improvement on that plan can contribute to establishing better, more constructive social atmosphere, which is besides else also important for more successful fight against corruption. Therefore it would be very good that their Report should be objective, to acknowledge both the achieved results and omissions and shortcomings in relation to that, to give certain recommendations and suggestions, but also to be the basis for political decision that would bring Serbia closer to the EU and put it on the „White Schengen list".
