This Conference serves to launch several proposals leading to the development of a sustainable state-aid monitoring mechanism focusing on state-aid quality and impact. These include a Proposal for an Open Data Module, a Blueprint of a Citizen-friendly Report on State Aid, a Proposal for a “Subsidies Portal” and a Set of Outcome-oriented Indicators for Monitoring of the Quality of State-aid-supported Investments.

After a series of reports finding no progress in the field of state-aid in Serbia, the European Commission finally noted progress. The 2019 Law improved the alignment of Serbian legislation with EU rules and increased the operational independence of the Commission for State Aid Control. However, the level of transparency and accessibility of state-aid data is still underdeveloped, while the evaluation of the society’s benefits from granted state-aid is still missing. The first panel is dedicated to elucidating the management of state-aid with a focus on public information and monitoring, and how it can be improved: the current availability and accessibility of data, the role of institutions, and the assessment and monitoring of its benefits. The second panel will be focused on the future of state-aid, i.e. the likelihood of (the much desired!) significant improvement in its development effects. The latter requires putting it in the service of all citizens’ welfare, by focusing on the development of Serbia’s economy (particularly SMEs) and a significant improvement of the quality and structure of FDI.

This effort has benefited from the support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade and the Balkan Trust for Democracy of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in scope of project ‘’Support It SMART – State-aid More Accountable, Rewarding and Transparent”. The ultimate goal is to contribute to fundamental progress in the establishment of accountability through transparency and increased independent monitoring of state-aid in Serbia.