Reform of Local Self-government in Serbia – Internal Legal Framework and EU Integration

The paper analyzes Serbian system of local self-government under the Constitution of 2006 and its possible improvements. There are two major aspects of reform. On the one side, there are weaknesses in internal law and practice that were detected in last three decades and six concrete proposals for their correction. On the other side, considering that Serbia negotiates on integration with the EU, some improvements of the system should be a result of that process, fully in accordance with the European standards of local self-government. Reforming the local self-government in both of these directions should lead to better legal framework in the Republic of Serbia and upgrading the constitutional system.