Published by Institute for Territorial Economic Development (InTER) For the publisher Dragisa Mijacic Authors Jasna Zarkovic Dragisa Mijacic Marija Milenkovic Year 2017 This policy study was written as a part of the project financed through a Small Action Grant of the Embassy of Switzerland in Kosovo. The opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the Authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Embassy of Switzerland. Public institutions of the Republic of Serbia in North Kosovo WHAT KIND OF FUTURE AWAITS US? July 2017 WHAT KIND OF FUTURE AWAITS US? CONTENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 EDUCATION ................................................................................................................................. 3 Preschool institutions ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Primary schools .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Secondary schools .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Colleges and universities .................................................................................................................................... 7 Functioning of the educational system .............................................................................................................. 8 HEALTH CARE ............................................................................................................................ 10 Health care institutions .................................................................................................................................... 10 Functioning of the health care system ............................................................................................................. 11 SOCIAL PROTECTION .................................................................................................................. 13 Social protection institutions ........................................................................................................................... 13 Functioning of social protection ...................................................................................................................... 14 OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA .................................................................... 16 Public companies of the Republic of Serbia ..................................................................................................... 16 Public institutions of the Republic of Serbia .................................................................................................... 18 Public finance ............................................................................................................................................... 18 Economy ...................................................................................................................................................... 18 Agriculture ................................................................................................................................................... 19 Culture ......................................................................................................................................................... 20 Judicial system ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Real estate cadastre .................................................................................................................................... 21 Other institutions of the Republic of Serbia .................................................................................................... 22 LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT UNITS AND LOCAL INSTITUTIONS ..................................................... 24 Local self-government units ............................................................................................................................. 24 Public companies of local self-governments .................................................................................................... 25 Public institutions of local self-governments ................................................................................................... 27 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 29 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 31 Literature ......................................................................................................................................................... 31 Websites .......................................................................................................................................................... 34 WHAT KIND OF FUTURE AWAITS US? ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS AP Autonomous Province APR Business Registers Agency EPS Elektroprivreda Srbije EU European Union InTER Institute for Territorial Economic Development MEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo UNO United Nations Organisation VAT Value added tax PIO Republic Pension and Disability Insurance Fund RS Republic of Serbia UN-Habitat United Nations-Habitat UNMIK United Nations Mission in Kosovo WHAT KIND OF FUTURE AWAITS US? INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The first agreement on the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, known as the Brussels Agreement, was signed in April 2013 in Brussels with the European Union as the mediator. At that time, among other things, the Agreement initiated the integration of Serbian institutions in the municipalities of North Kosovo1 into the legal and institutional system of Kosovo, and the first step in this process was to organise local elections in those municipalities in Kosovo. There are many challenges in the implementation of the Brussels Agreement, and four years after the signing, all 15 points of the agreement have not yet been implemented. Bearing in mind that the Community/Association of Serb Municipalities has not yet been established, the legal and institutional system of the Republic of Serbia has remained in many institutions in North Kosovo. This is especially the case in the field of education, health and social protection, as well as judiciary system, public finance, agriculture and other fields. In practice, negotiations in Brussels have proved to be non-transparent, and their results unknown to citizens, especially those in North Kosovo. The adopted solutions are also often inconsistent with the expectations of the local population. Therefore, it can often be heard that citizens from North Kosovo want to be more actively involved in the negotiation process, and impose topics that are essential for their sustainable survival. This is the aspect from which this paper should be read, which primarily aims to contribute to the negotiations in Brussels through the opening of a public debate on the future of existing institutions in North Kosovo that operate in the system of the Republic of Serbia, on reciprocity of services provided by these institutions to citizens, as well as the future of employees in these public administrations. The subject of this research includes state bodies, public enterprises and institutions founded by the Government of the Republic of Serbia and local self-government units in North Kosovo, which are still active in the four Serb-majority municipalities in North Kosovo: Mitrovica North, Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok. During the research, special attention was paid to education, health care and social protection, but other sectors were also considered. The paper also analyses how the public sector in Kosovo is organized in the areas that are the subject of this research. Public institutions and companies that, after signing the signing of the Brussels Agreement in 2013, have been integrated into the Kosovo’s legal system, such as police, customs, civil protection and Telekom Srbija, have not been the subject of research in this paper. Qualitative methods were mainly used during the research. The first step in conducting the research was related to the collection of secondary data sources, primarily laws, strategic documents and reports on the work of relevant institutions within the Serbian and Kosovo’s legal systems. Also, relevant data on public companies that are available in the Serbian Business Registers Agency have been collected. Based on the analysis of the above documentation, state authorities, public companies and institutions that operate within the Serbian legal system in North Kosovo have been mapped. In order to verify the collected data, interviews were organized with representatives of 1 Instead of names “Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, Kosmet, Kosovo* or the Republic of Kosovo, this research uses the name “Kosovo” as the most publically used term. 1 WHAT KIND OF FUTURE AWAITS US? INTRODUCTION institutions and other stakeholders who have the knowledge of the topics that are the subject of research. Bearing in mind the