Third prize winner in category Innovation in Public Administration in EPSA 2023-24
Context
The Register of Administrative Procedures (RAP) is the single electronic portal for all public services in the Republic of Serbia. Spearheaded by the Public Policy Secretariat (PPS), which is in charge of maintaining, developing and coordinating all RAP-related activities, it was born in response to the goals set out in the e-PAPIR (optimisation of administrative procedures and regulations) reform programme, which started in 2016. In addition, the RAP was also set up to address the goal of reducing the administrative burden from 3.26 per cent of GDP in 2016 to 3 per cent in 2021. Thus, the RAP was established in 2021 by the Law on Register of Administrative Procedures. In addition, the initiative was inspired by the EU Directive on services in the internal market, which argues that ‘in order to further simplify administrative procedures, it is appropriate to ensure that each provider (of services) has a single point through which they can complete all procedures and formalities (points of single contact)’.
Objectives
The aim of the RAP was to establish an overall catalogue of all administrative processes from all service providers. As such, it provides information about 2995 administrative services within the competences of 108 public institutions, as well as giving access to digital services. This was set up in such a way that all potential end users could find the information they needed about all the procedures at all levels of government (national, regional and local). Due to the complexity of the undertaking, the implementation demanded the dedication of 100+ institutions to the same goal. To achieve this goal, the responsibility to utilise the platform and keep the information updated was enshrined in the Law on the Register of Administrative Procedures. Furthermore, the RAP is the one-stop shop for collecting feedback from businesses and citizens about non-efficient regulations and procedures, and on how these could be optimised and improved.
The RAP enabled the standardisation and digitalisation of most of Serbia’s public services and thus increased accessibility and transparency. Moreover, it simplified the process whereby citizens can access information and complete procedures faster and more efficiently, saving time and costs. In effect, the goal of reducing the administrative burden was accomplished, as it has been reduced to 2.95 per cent of GDP in 2021.
Implementation
The RAP was created and improved as a result of the comments from end users since the first version of the platform. The pilot project was launched in 2016, when the PPS published the platform to collect suggestions from SMEs and other businesses about obstacles they face when doing business in Serbia. This pilot project was the catalyst for the creation of an official channel for constant communication with the private sector, to analyse their proposals and further work on optimisation of public services. This platform showed that many procedures were not transparent enough, information was often not updated and it was difficult to submit requests. Furthermore, it was difficult to reach the authorities in charge as contact details were often out of date. As a result, the PPS sought to create a single window (the RAP) for all public services that exist in Serbia.
Currently, there is a permanent co-creation process for new or optimised services, with a focus on digitalisation. The PPS cooperates closely with the Chamber of Commerce, as main partner and member of all working groups, as well as business associations and NGOs. They regularly contribute to document creation, transformation of services, implementation of project activities and in the development of new software.
In terms of funding, the whole reform process and establishment of the RAP was supported through various projects financed by the European Union (Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance), World Bank, International Financial Corporation, Good Governance Fund and the GIZ (German: Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).
Sustainability has been ensured by creating a legal framework for the RAP, the Law on the Register of Administrative Procedures (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No 44/21) and the respective bylaw: The Regulation on the Managing, Functioning and Data that are Registered Within the RAP (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No 84/22). To ensure sustainability of the manner in which administrative procedures are regulated, the methodology for creation of administrative procedures is being developed. Thus, the RAP will continue to grow in the next few years. Currently, PPS is preparing an inventory of conditions to do business (obligations to prepare, adopt, record and archive certain documentation) and an inventory of administrative procedures at local level. This additional information should become public at the beginning of 2025.