REGULATIONON MEDIUM-TERM PLANNINGWorking version of September 29, 2015 |
Subject Matter and Scope of Application
Article 1
The present Decree shall regulate in detail the form and content of medium-term plans, the connection between the planning system and the budgeting process, the medium-term plan development and adoption process, the implementation of medium-term plans, implementation monitoring, evaluation and reporting, as well as the form and content of the report on the medium-term plan implementation in the preceding fiscal year.
Compliance with the Decree ensures:
- integration of the medium-term planning and budgeting processes;
- uniformity of medium-term plans;
- establishment of internal structures to manage the medium-term plan development and adoption process;
- efficient reporting on medium-term plan implementation.
This methodology shall be binding on entities funded from the national budget of the Republic of Serbia as direct budget beneficiaries, as well as for those belonging in the group of indirect budget beneficiaries for which the Government has prescribed the requiremetn to develop medium-term plans (hereinafter: budget beneficiaries), whereas for other public sector entities it is provided as a recommendation.
II CONTENT OF MEDIUM-TERM PLANS
Article 2
A medium-term plan shall include the following mandatory parts and annexes:
1) General part, consisting of sections with the following titles:
- Mandate outline;
- Organisational structure;
- Description of the factual state of affairs;
- Description of the desired situation;
- Priorities;
2) Strategic part, consisting of:
- Objectives to be achieved;
- Measures to achieve the objectives;
- Performance indicators for measuring the degree of achievement of the objectives and of the implementation of measures;
3) Annex 1, which shall be titled: Plan of Normative Activities;
4) Annex 2, which shall be titled: Medium-term Expenditure Framework by Programme Classification;
5) Annex 3, which shall be titled: Overview of the Situation Analysis Results.
Where the adopting entity is a government ministry, the medium-term plan shall also include the plans of the public authorities which form part of the ministry.
1. General part of the medium-term plan
Article 3
This section of the medium-term plan shall give a brief overview of the adopting entity’s mandate, stipulated under legal instruments that regulate its scope of work and prescribe the adoption of the plan.
Article 4
This section of the medium-term plan shall contain a graphic overview of adopting entity’s organisational units.
This section shall also include a list of all public authorities which form part of the adopting entity and which participate in the implementation of the medium-term plan in accordance with their respective mandates.
Description of the factual state of affairs
Article 5
This section of the medium-term plan shall contain:
1) basic information about the current state of affairs regarding the adopting entity’s mandate implementation, including a brief exposition of the fundamental problems and risks;
2) key findings of the impact assessment taken from the policy documents that are implemented through the medium-term plan, whereas an in-depth overview of assessment results may be presented in Annex 3 to the medium-term plan;
The basic information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is, as a rule, available in the policy documents implemented by the adopting entity within its mandate, in which case the required information shall be taken from those documents, while taking account of any changes of the factual situation that might have occurred since the time when such documents were adopted.
If the basic information and/or assessmens referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are unavailable, the adopting entity may obtain them by employing techniques such as: SWOT and PESTLE analyses, problem tree analysis, consultations with stakeholders, risk analysis and the like.
The description of the factual state of affairs shall be prepared at the very beginning of the medium-term planning process, and it shall be used as the basis for proper formulation of overall goals, specific objectives and measures included in the medium-term plan.
Description of the desired situation
Article 6
This section of the medium-term plan shall give a description of the socio-economic situation that the adopting entity aims to attain by implementing policies within its mandate, as well as of the approaches it intends to take in order to contribute to the achievement of the desired socio-economic situation.
Article 7
This section of the medium-term plan shall list:
1) specific objectives identified by the adopting entity as priorities to be achieved over the thee-year period covered by the medium-term plan, in line with the adopted policy documents and the Government’s priorities outlined in the Government agenda;
2) measures to achieve the priority specific objectives, as identified in point 1) of paragraph 1 of this Article;
3) public investments that the adopting entity intends to make during the three-year period for which the medium-term plan is adopted.
As a rule, the adopting entity shall identify a maximum of three specific objectives that it considers as its priorities.
The list of priority specific objectives and the measures to achieve them, as well as the list of public investments, shall be revised by the adopting entity on an annual basis.
Where the adopting entity is a budget beneficiary, the priorities presented under this section of the medium-term plan shall be used as input for the Action Plan for the implementation of the Government agenda, which is prepared by the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies in cooperation with the respective adopting entity.
2. Strategic part of the medium-term plan
Article 8
This section of the medium-term plan shall lay down the objectives to be achieved through the implementation of the plan, and these include:
1) overall goals, as the projection of the desired situation at the society level, in a specific sector in which the adopting entity acts, and they are, as a rule, long-term goals;
2) specific objectives, as the projection of the final outcome of one of more measures implemented by the adopting entity, and they are, as a rule, medium-term objectives.
The objectives shall be set in accordance with the results of analyses of the factual state of affairs, and their achievement should enable the elimination or mitigation of the principal causes of the key problems.
The overall goals and specific objectives shall be taken from policy documents in force and included into the medium-term plan; exceptionally, a specific objective may also be established by the medium-term plan, if that is necessary in order to formulate a new measure, on condition that this specific objective is aligned with the Government’s priorities.
Article 9
This section of the medium-term plan shall specify the measures to be undertaken in order to achieve the specific objectives.
For each of the measures, the following should be indicated:
1) implementation period;
2) estimate of the funds needed for its implementation;
3) programme activity and/or project funded from the national budget, under which the funds for its implementation are provided;
4) description of the measure, with references to the policy document from which it was taken;
5) performance indicators for monitoring the results of its implementation.
In the interest of achieving the set specific objectives, different types of measures may be combined.
The measures shall be taken from policy documents in force and integrated into the medium-term plan; exceptionally, a measure may also be introduced by the medium-term plan, provided that it is not contrary to the specific objectives established by the policy documents or by the medium-term plan, and, most of all, that it is not contrary to the Government’s priorities.
Performance indicators for measuring the degree of achievement of the objectives and of the implementation of measures
Article 10
All objectives and measures set by the medium-term plan shall be paired with their respective performance indicators, enabling the monitoring and measurement of the degree of their achievement, as well as with the baseline and target values for those indicators, for the period for which the medium-term plan is adopted.
The performance indicators may be:
1) impact indicators, which measure the long-term effects on the economy and society, resulting from the achievement of the overall goals;
2) outcome indicators, which measure the degree of achievement of specific objectives;
3) output indicators, which measure the results of the implementation of concrete measures.
3. Annexes to the medium-term plan
Annex 1: The Plan of Normative Activities
Article 11
Adoption of this annex to the medium-term plan is mandatory when the adopting entity is a ministry, a special organisation or a Government service.
In this annex, the adopting entity shall indicate all regulations/legal instruments it intends to adopt or submit for adoption in the first year covered by the medium-term plan.
For each of the regulations/legal instruments, the following shall be specified:
1) legal basis for adoption or proposal;
2) scope;
3) priority level, determined in line with the Instructions provided by the General Secretariat of the Government;
4) reference document (regulation or policy document that envisages the normative activity in question);
5) connection with NPAA; and
6) the month in which it is submitted to the Government for further adoption procedure.
This annex shall constitute a proposed contribution from a public authority for the Government work plan, which is used as an input by the General Secretariat of the Government when preparing the annual Government work plan.
Annex 2: Medium-term Expenditure Framework by Programme Classification
Article 12
In this annex, the adopting entity shall give an overview of its budget programmes, programme activities and projects, including an estimate of the funds needed for their implementation during the three-year period covered by the medium-term plan, disaggregated by sources of funding. The estimated expenditures and outflows shall include the funds necessary for implementation of the measures envisaged in the medium-term plan.
Annex 3: Overview of the Situation Analysis Results
Article 13
In this annex to the medium-term plan, the adopting entity shall present an in-depth impact assessment, taken over from the policy documents that prescribe the implementation of the set measures, or, where such an assessment is unavailable, the adopting entity shall present the results of the impact assessment conducted for the purpose of formulating those measures, in line with the methodology that regulates in detail the process of policy management.
This annex is not a mandatory part of the medium-term plan; the adopting entity should include it if it finds that the presentation of comprehensive results of the impact assessment of specific measures is important for planning coordinatin. If the measures concerned have not been assessed by the policy documents in force, this annex is mandatory.
III INTEGRATION OF THE MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING AND BUDGETING PROCESSES OF SERBIAN BUDGET BENEFICIARIES
The purpose of establishing an integrated process at the Government level
Article 14
The purpose of integrating the medium-term planning and budgeting processes is to ensure the conditions for the implementation of measures, i.e. for achievement of the objectives of adopted public policies, through optimized allocation and usage of funds, which in turn enables efficient public finance management.
The integrated process allows the Government to:
- ensure that policy objectives are translated into overall goals, specific objectives and measures of institutions, with clearly indicated timeframes, implementation costs and responsibilities;
- ensure that policies are funded in line with the Government’s priorities and the medium-term expenditure framework;
- ensure that policy implementation is adequately coordinated and monitored, with timely reporting to the National Assembly and the public about the achieved results.
Integrated Information System for Planning, Budgeting and Reporting
Article 15
For the medium-term plan development, the adopting entity shall use the Integrated Planning, Budgeting and Reporting Information System (hereinafter: Integrated Information System).
The Integrated Information System supports the budgeting and medium-term planning process, and its usage ensures exhaustive and timely reporting on the attained performance.
Article 16
Planning and budgeting is a continuous process occurring throughout the year and the time frames for reaching the milestones in this process are stipulated by the law regulating the planning system, the law regulating the budget system, this Decree and the regulations governing the operation of the Government.
The annual planning and budgeting timetable at the level of individual budget beneficiaries (budget timetable) reflects the link between the process of medium-term planning, identification of funding priorities and budgeting, and it includes two phases:
1) the analysis and planning phase (strategic part of the cycle); and
2) the budgeting phase.
Article 17
The analysis and planning phase starts with the analysis of the situation in budget beneficiaries’ scope of work.
In this phase, budget beneficiaries shall evaluate the results achieved in the previous fiscal year by analysing the successfulness of attaining specific objectives and implementing measures stipulated in the medium-term plan (ex post impact analysis of measures). Based on this, they shall write an annual report on the medium-term plan implementation and shall publish it on their respective websites. Budget beneficiaries shall submit their annual reports on the medium-term plan implementation by 1 March of the current year.
Based on the received annual reports on the medium-term plan implementation referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies shall evaluate the achieved results and provide guidelines about the objectives and measures to which budget beneficiaries should pay attention when preparing the medium-term plans for the next three-year period (those they failed to implement in the previous year, those that are due for implementation according to effective activity plans etc.). The Republic Secretariat for Public Policies shall send these guidelines to budget beneficiaries, together with instructions for the preparation of priority funding areas issued by the ministry competent for finance affairs, by 1 April of the current year.
Based on the results of the ex post impact assessment of the medium-term plan implementation in the preceding fiscal year, the analysis of the factual state of affairs, as well as on their own priorities, the guidelines provided by the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies and the instructions for the preparation of priority funding areas issued by the ministry competent for finance affairs, budget beneficiaries shall initiate the development of medium-term plans for the next three-year period, in accordance with the limitations of the medium-term expenditure framework.
If there were any amendments in the previous fiscal year to relevant policy documents, legal framework, budget beneficiaries’ priorities, or if new risks emerged, budget beneficiaries shall make an assessment of whether the previously identified specific objectives and the measures to achieve them are feasible in the new circumstances, as well as whether new specific objectives and measures (new measures that would step up the achievement of the existing specific objectives) need to be formulated.
In this phase, budget beneficiaries shall revise the costs related to existing activities and projects and shall determine the funds required for implementation of the new measures.
The funds required for implementation of new measures may be secured:
1) from the savings achieved in the implementation of other measures;
2) through reallocation of the funds from lower-priority measures;
3) through grants and the European Union’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance;
4) by submitting a request for additional funding from the national budget.
If a budget beneficiary identifies the need for additional budget funds for implementation of existing and new measures, it shall submit a request to the ministry competent for finance affairs, together with the revised costs of implementation of the existing activities and projects, as part of the process of proposing the Priority Funding Areas (PFA), by 15 April of the current year.
The Republic Secretariat for Public Policies shall conduct evaluation of the received proposals for the Priority Funding Areas and shall provide guidelines to the ministry competent for finance affairs, specifying which of the proposed new measures are aligned with the adopted policy documents and the Government’s priorities, based on which the Government decides for which new measures funding from the national budget will be approved.
Based on the received proposals for the Priority Funding Areas, the approved new measures and the established fiscal framework, the Fiscal Strategy specifies expenditure limitations for budget beneficiaries for the next three-year period (medium-term expenditure framework).
Article 18
The budgeting phase starts when the ministry competent for finance affairs delivers to budget beneficiaries the instructions for budget preparation for the following fiscal year with projections for the two subsequent years, and the instructions for medium-term plan development.
Budget beneficiaries shall align their medium-term plans with the set expenditure limitation.
By 1 September of the current year, budget beneficiaries shall submit, through the Integrated Information System:
1) the proposal for the financial plan for the next three-year period, to the ministry competent for finance affairs;
2) the draft medium-term plan, developed in accordance with the proposed financial plan, to the ministry competent for finance affairs, the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies and the General Secretariat of the Government.
Once the budget is adopted by the National Assembly, budget beneficiaries shall align their draft medium-term plans with the adopted budget, the opinions of the ministry competent for finance affairs, the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies and the General Secretariat of the Government, and shall publish the final version of the medium-term plans on their websites and submit them to the General Secretariat of the Government by 31 December of the current year.
Based on the normative activity plans, which are integral parts of medium-term plans, the General Secretariat of the Government shall prepare the annual Government work plan.
The Government shall adopt the annual work plan for the following year by 31 December of the current year.
IV INTERNAL STRUCTURES FOR MEDIUM-TERM PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION
The role and structure of the medium-term planning group
Article 19
Medium-term planning is a comprehensive annual planning process, which entails organised participation of the representatives of all organisational units and authorities of the adopting entity.
In the interest of efficient planning, the adopting entity shall establish the medium-term planning group.
Members of the medium-term planning group shall include the representatives (heads) of the organisational units in charge of the activities under the adopting entity’s mandate, the representatives (heads) of the organisational units responsible for planning, financial and research/analytical affairs, as well as the representatives of the authorities which form part of the adopting entity.
Tasks of the medium-term planning group
Article 20
The medium-term planning group shall:
1) coordinate the medium-term planning tasks and activities, as per the Law and the present Decree;
2) identify overall goals and specific objectives, measures and performance indicators for measuring the degree of achievement of the objectives and of the implementation of the measures;
3) among the identified specific objectives, select three which it considers to be of priority for the adopting entity, in the period for which the plan is developed;
4) propose to the head of the adopting entity to adopt the medium-term plan in which the overall goals and the priority specific objectives will be defined in line with points 2) and 3) of this paragraph;
5) monitor the implementation of the medium-term plan after its adoption, and analyse the need for aligning the objectives, measures and timeframes specified in the plan with new circumstances, within the next medium-term plan.
The medium-term planning group shall undertake the tasks referred to in paragraph 1, points 2) and 3) in cooperation with the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies. By derogation from paragraph 1, Point 3) of this Article, subject to approval from the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, a budget beneficiary’s medium-term planning group may select a larger number of priority objectives if the Government’s priorities and the adopted policy documents indicate this is necessary.
Article 22
A medium-term plan shall be adopted by the head of the adopting entity and shall be published on the adopting entity’s website by 31 December of the current year.
The adopting entity’s head shall adopt the medium-term plan of the budget beneficiary within the time frame stipulated under paragraph 1 of this Article, upon consulting the opinions of:
- the ministry competent for finance affairs, which shall verify the medium-term plan’s fiscal feasibility;
- the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, which shall verify the alignment of the plan with the adopted policy documents and other relevant planning documents;
- the General Secretariat of the Government, which shall verify the alignment of the normative activities plan.
The ministry competent for finance affairs, the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies and the General Secretariat of the Government shall provide the opinion referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article within 30 days of receiving the medium-term plan proposal.
The adopting entity shall publish the medium-term plan on its website by 31 December of the current year.
V IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTING
Medium-term plan implementation
Article 23
The medium-term plan and/or the measures envisaged in the plan shall be implemented in the modalities and timeframes as specified in the plan.
Implementation monitoring and results evaluation
Article 24
The adopting entity shall monitor the implementation of measures and the degree of achievement of the objectives set in the medium-term plan.
Monitoring of the implementation of measures and of the degree of achievement of specific objectives shall be based on performance indicators defined in the medium-term plan.
In the process of evaluating the achieved results, the adopting entity shall analyse the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of implemented measures, the degree of achievement of specific objectives, and their contribution to the pace and effects of the implementation of public policies contained in policy documents.
By monitoring the implementation of medium-term plans of adopting entities funded from the national budget:
- the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies monitors the degree of achievement of the objectives and priorities envisaged in the Development Plan, the National Development (Investment) Plan, the Action Plan for Implementation of the Government Agenda and effective policy documents;
- the General Secretariat of the Government monitors the implementation of the annual Government work plan;
- the ministry competent for finance affairs monitors the implementation of the measures funded from the national budget.
Article 25
The adopting entity shall prepare the annual report on the medium-term plan implementation in the preceding fiscal year (hereinafter: annual report) and shall make it available to the public by publishing the annual report for the preceding year on its website by 1 March of the current year.
The adopting entity funded from the national budget shall submit the annual report, within the deadline stipulated in paragraph 1 of this Article, to the ministry competent for finance affairs, the General Secretariat of the Government and the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, through the Integrated Information System.
Content of the annual report on the medium-term plan implementation in the preceding fiscal year
Article 26
The annual report shall include an overview of the achieved values of outcome and output indicators in the preceding fiscal year, explanation of the degree of achievement of specific objectives, as well as their contribution to the pace and effects of the implementation of public policies contained in policy documents, the rationale for the measures that were planned but were not implemented, and the rationale for the measures that were not envisaged in the medium-term plan, but were nevertheless undertaken in view of the changed circumstances that occurred during the implementation of the plan. The annual report shall also provide an explanation of the reasons for any deviation from the determined timeframes or values.
Furthermore, the annual report shall include information and data on the pace and effects of the implementation of public policies contained in action plans for each individual policy document, and of the regulations for enforcement of which the public authority is responsible in the reporting period.
Based on the submitted annual reports:
- the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies shall prepare the Annual Report on the Implementation of Government Policies and Priority Objectives;
- the General Secretariat of the Government shall prepare the Annual Government Work Report.
VI TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 27
The present Decree shall enter into force on the eighth day following its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia.
Example of the Medium-term plan, which is an integral part of this Regulation, you can find on this LINK
The text of the regulation was taken from the website of the Republic Secretariat for Public Policy, www.rsjp.rs, the contents of which were published on December 15, 2016.