One of the main problems that NGOs in Serbia encounter is the lack of adequate laws which regulate the scope of business and financial work of this non-profit sector. The republic law, by which NGOs are now registrated and organised (The Public Organisations and Citizens’ Associations Law dating from 1982.) is old and has been exceeded a long time ago, has stipulations which are contrary to other valid regulations, without any financial facilities or exceptions, and with optimal and various interpretations. Due to all these, non-profit organisations are being treated as enterprises regarding their financial stipulations, and this non-defined status often brings to misunderstandings and problems in every day work. On the other hand, this state sometimes makes space for manipulations and malversations which deteriorate already unfavourable public impression about the work of the third sector and its funding (“foreign myrmidons”, “traitors for a handfull of dollars”, etc.). With such reference to the non-profit sector, what is done is being neglected and the usefulness of the work as well as its immense contribution to solving social problems, especially in local communities is not regarded as it should be.
A few recent attempts to bring a new law, to withdraw from the procedure propositions and many different drafts of the law, followed by discussions on the subject of legal regulations of the third sector, have shown that there exists a big dissension between the needs of NGOs and political structures of the government, as well as insufficient insight into the problems concerning legislation senate on the republic level.
The last accepted Proposition of the Law concerning associations has been waiting to be adopted by the Republic of Serbia for almost a year:
Proposition of the Law concerning alliances
http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/dokumenti_pregled.php?id=43285
direct link: http://www.srbija.sr.sr.gov.yu/extfile/sr/51426/pz_o_udruzenjima139a.zip
Insight into valid laws of our neighbour countries, Croatia and Slovenia above all, which have some adoptable solutions, can be reached on links bellow:
Croatia – The Alliance Law
http://uzuvrh.hr/index.php?cat=zakon
Slovenia – The Alliance Law
http://www.uradni-list.si/1/objava.jsp?urlid=200661&stevilka=2567
