Western Balkan PAR Monitor - PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 2024/2025
Western Balkan PAR Monitor - PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 2024/2025

Author(s): Milica Škorić, Miloš Đinđić, Milica Divljak
Contributor(s): Milena Mihajlović Denić (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics, Civil Society, Governance, Public Administration, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development, Public Finances
Published by: Centar za evropske politike CEP
Keywords: budget transparency; budgetary documentation accessibility; public procurement ; audit institutions transparency; Western Balkans; public financial management
Summary/Abstract: The assessment of the transparency and openness of public financial management focuses on four critical aspects - 1) inclusiveness and transparency of the budget formulation process, 2) availability and comprehensiveness of budgetary documentation, 3) transparency and competitiveness of the public procurement system, and 4) openness and transparency of supreme audit institutions’ work. The first aspect examines the extent to which the budget formulation process is inclusive and transparent, ensuring timely access to information, formal participation opportunities, and proactive involvement of citizens and other external stakeholders by the relevant institution. The second aspect focuses on transparency and quality of budgetary documentation across all stages of the budget cycle, assessing whether medium-term projections, policy impacts, and detailed expenditure data are present, while also examining the timeliness of publishing and budgetary documents’ accessibility. When it comes to the public procurement system, emphasis is placed on examining whether the policy, legal and institutional framework promotes open and fair procedures, if those procedures are applied in practice and if the procurements are competitive and regularly reported on. Finally, the last aspect is devoted to assessing whether the supreme audit institutions engage in active communication and cooperation with external stakeholders and ensure regular and accessible publication of activity and audit reports, in user-friendly and open formats. Findings of this report reflect the period since the publication of the PAR Monitor 2021/2022, starting from the second half of 2022, and until the end of 2024.

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