SARAJEVO – Policy makers and experts from South East Europe (SEE) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gathered today at the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Secretariat in Sarajevo to streamline co-operation between parliaments and governments in order to develop a more attractive and competitive business environment in SEE.

The debate took place within the third meeting of the OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe’s Working Group on Regulatory Reform, co-organised with the RCC Secretariat. It was based on the preliminary results of the OECD’s assessment of country performances in economic reform legislation – part of a more comprehensive OECD evaluation of investment reform in SEE, the OECD Investment Reform Index 2009, to be launched in early 2010.

“The preliminary assessment indicates that although they are integral drivers of regional and national competitiveness strategies, SEE parliamentarians are not always sufficiently involved in the design of business regulations”, said Mary O’Mahony, Advisor at the OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe.

“The meeting focused on concrete solutions to this challenge, such as improving standards of regulatory practice and enhancing dialogue between parliaments and governments,” said O’Mahony.

Jelica Minic, Deputy RCC Secretary General, stressed the need to introduce new regulations harmonized with the European Union’s acquis communautaire, as well as to rationalize and modernize institutional structures. “Inevitably, new skills and capacities have to be developed. This dimension of regulatory reform is especially important and it would be necessary to provide synergies among different stakeholders.”

The participants discussed policy priorities to improve the legislative process from the early stages of drafting to the final stages of enactment, with a focus on improving dialogue with civil society and private sector.