At the sitting held on 2 March, the European Integrations Committee considered, in principle, two Bills on the agenda for the First Sitting of the First Regular Session of the National Assembly in 2011, the Bills on Social Welfare and on Sports.

Presenting the Bill on Social Welfare, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Ljiljana Lucic said that the new legal solutions will make it possible for more persons (as much as 50% more beneficiaries than at present) to receive social welfare and improve the care for those most endangered and social groups running the highest risk of social exclusion. Currently 170 000 people in Serbia are on social welfare and the number is expected to rise by another 70 thousand. This requires a 70% increase in funds which has already been secured in the 2011 budget, said Ljiljana Lucic. The State Secretary said that in 2010 the overall poverty rate in Serbia rose to 8.8%.

Some Committee members pointed out that the new law does not offer a solution to the huge number of poor people in Serbia and is incomplete. They also had other objections to the Bill to which, as they said, about 100 amendments have already been submitted.

The Committee members endorsed the Bill on Social Welfare by a majority of votes.

The Bill on Sports was elaborated by State Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sport Slavisa Zlatanovic. Having shared several objections and suggestions, the Committee members endorsed the Bill by a majority of votes.

The Committee ruled that the delegation of the National Assembly’s European Integrations Committee to the Fifth Interparliamentary Meeting between the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the European Parliament, to be held in Brussels on 18 and 19 April, should be composed according to the to the
principle of proportional representation of the parliamentary groups in the committee.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Laszlo Varga.