Улога паметне специјализације у политици регионалног развоја Србије
The role of smart specialization in the regional development policy of Serbia

Summary/Abstract: As a country in the process of joining the European Union (EU), Serbia has made moderate progress in the pre-accession negotiations, and according to Chapter 22: “Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments”. As Chapter 22 has not yet been opened, Serbia can only have at its disposal those funds that will be given to it for use after joining the EU. Therefore, Serbia has yet to adopt the legal framework for cohesion policy, while the closure of the aforementioned Chapter can be expected when the European Commission assesses that Serbia is well prepared for transparent programming and management of funds from European funds. As far as programming is concerned, itis suggested to Serbia that the development plan, which represents the legal basis for regional development policy, be adopted as soon as possible. Namely, the EU expects Serbia to valorize its development potential on the regional level with this plan. Since the development plan was not adopted in the meantime, Serbia adopted the Smart Specialization Strategy for the period from 2020 to 2027. Thanks to this Strategy, the valorization of the development potential of the regions in Serbia was carried out. On this occasion, it was suggested to Serbia to start drafting the Smart Specialization Strategy in the phase when it gets closer to joining the EU. The reason for this is the delay in adopting smart specialization strategies as one of the conditions for using funds from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), as well as the time needed to deal with the phenomenon of the “institutional paradox related to smart specialization“.

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