Serbie

The Labour Law, reformed in 2001 and 2005, conforms to international practice on all essential points. It generally offers a degree of flexibility that should permit employers and workers to adjust to changing economic conditions without breaking the law. Until now, however, the application of this and other laws has been uneven across the labour market, with, on the one hand, an informal sector where few rules are enforced, and, on the other, a formal sector that includes a number of severely under-performing enterprises, which have been allowed to stay in business for a long time without fulfilling their obligations. The situation has improved recently, but both informality and unresolved problems of ownership and enterprise management continue to reduce the scope for implementing legislation as it was intended. Moreover, given a persistent labour surplus, policy efforts to enforce labour standards are not always supported by market pressures on employers to make jobs more attractive.

significant turnaround in the years that followed its democratic breakthrough in 2000. Successive governments in office since then have sought to restore lost momentum in the long-delayed transition to a market economy. A process of privatisation and economic restructuring has resumed, supported by numerous pieces of new legislation including a labour law from 2001, modified in 2005, and measures to facilitate enterprise start-ups. The social safety-net has been partly modernised within the narrow budget limits that can be afforded. As a framework for many of these reforms, the country has adopted a National Employment Strategy and a Poverty Reduction Strategy that take account of international experiences. This report reviews the key issues of labour market policy from an OECD perspective.

Le premier amendement modifie le financement des activités de l’Agence fédérale de contrôle nucléaire (AFCN) dans la mesure où une partie des frais de fonctionnement est transformée en ressource d’origine fiscale. En plus de ces ressources fiscales, des frais de fonctionnement et des amendes administratives, le financement peut s’opérer par le biais de donations, de legs et d’autres modes de financement.

One amendment changes the funding of the activities of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) whereby part of the fees is transformed into taxes. Besides taxes, fees and administrative fines, funding is possible by means of donations, legacies and extra fees.

Serbia has signed CEDAW and has taken steps to achieve the Convention’s objectives. The situation in the country remains complex, however, because the population is made up of several different ethnic groups, languages and religions. Serbia experienced a high level of conflict over the past 15 years. Whilst this affected the whole population, women were often more vulnerable than men; ethnic rape, for example, has been a particular problem.

Using an innovative methodology, the Investment Reform Index 2010 (IRI 2010) monitors investment-related policy reforms in the economies of South-East Europe and compares these to best practices in the OECD area. Based on inputs from governments, the private sector, independent experts and multilateral organisations active in the region, the IRI 2010 assesses policies and institutional settings in eight fields of policy critical to domestic and foreign investors. These are: investment policy and promotion; human capital development; trade policy and facilitation; access to finance; regulatory reform and parliamentary processes; infrastructure for investment; tax policy analysis; and SME policy. For the economies examined, the IRI 2010 provides an independent and rigorous assessment of investment-related policy settings and reform against international good practice, guidance for policy reform and development and an evidence base with which to facilitate prioritisation of donor activities supporting investment and growth.

The economy of Serbia has experienced steady growth since 2005. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 6.2% between 2005 and 2008. GDP per capita in purchasing power parity was USD 10 810 in 2008, in line with the average for South-East Europe (SEE) economies. According to government figures, the rate of inflation decreased from 14.5% in 2005 to 10.3% in 2008.

The paper presents the results of the first application of cyclical analysis to economic activity in Serbia. The analysis refers to the period 2001-07, which marked the start of democratic and economic reforms, since short term fluctuations in economic activity prior to 2001 were the result of various exogenous shocks like hyperinflation, wars and international economic sanctions. In the post-reform period, the Serbian economy exhibits characteristics of a small, open, marketoriented economy. Economic activity shows an upward trend, and with special regard to growth dynamics and their cyclical properties, cyclical analysis is relevant. In analysing cyclical fluctuations in economic activity, a deviation-from-trend approach is applied. For dating turning points in economic activity, the monthly gross domestic product (GDP) is used since the coincident properties of the index of industrial production could not be statistically verified for Serbia as there were a small number of quarterly observations available for GDP.

This first Integrity of Education Systems (INTES) country assessment was undertaken at the request of the Ministry of Education and Science of Serbia, following presentations of the assessment methodology to the Steering Group of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN), and discussions with the OECD Secretariat at regional meetings of the Education Reform Initiative of South Eastern Europe, which Serbia is currently chairing.

The chapter directs the focus of assessment to the education institutions – to staff and resource policies which are the backbone of institutional operation and to shortcomings in these policies and their implementation that could be decisive in creating or eliminating incentives for malpractice. Particular attention is paid to education financing, financial accountability and employment policies for teachers and principals.