SME Policy Index for Western Balkans and Türkiye 2026 – Economy Profile for Serbia

1. Assessment findings by policy dimension

Abstract

This chapter assesses policy performance across 13 dimensions key to SME growth and competitiveness as part of the SME Policy Index 2026 assessment cycle. For each dimension, scores are benchmarked against the 2022 assessment to track progress over time, situated within the regional distribution of results and contextualised relative to economy’s own performance profile across dimensions. Results are disaggregated by sub-dimension and thematic block, with comparisons drawn to regional averages throughout. The analytical sections identify recent achievements and persistent gaps underpinning score changes, while implementation reviews for each sub-dimension document key developments recorded during the assessment period against recommendations issued in the previous cycle.

The chapter is intended as a practical reference for policymakers, offering a structured overview of areas where measurable progress has been achieved and areas where challenges remain. It is to be read in conjunction with the cluster section of the economy profile, which sets out forward-looking recommendations to support continued reform efforts.

Dimension 1: Entrepreneurial learning and women’s entrepreneurship in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 1

Serbia received an overall score of 3.75 for Dimension 1 (Figure 1.1). Although it is not a major change from its score in the previous assessment cycle (3.78), Serbia remains the third-best performer in the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) region, remaining roughly in line with the regional average of 3.72. Within the economy’s overall performance profile, Dimension 1 sits among its mid-performing areas.

Figure 1.1. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 1 and evolution since 2019

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This stagnation in Serbia’s overall score since 2022 reflects offsetting trends across sub-dimensions. Improvements in performance related to women’s entrepreneurship have been counterbalanced by weaker performance in entrepreneurial learning. Importantly, the lower score in entrepreneurial learning does not necessarily signal regression, but rather a lack of sufficient progress in addressing gaps identified in the previous assessment cycle, which has widened the gap between the current state of play and evolving good practices.

Sub-dimension 1.1: Entrepreneurial learning

Serbia’s performance on this sub-dimension declined from 3.72 in 2022 to 3.59 in 2026, primarily due to lower scores in the planning and design and monitoring and evaluation blocks. The decrease reflects the introduction of new questions assessing the systematic and comprehensive nature of these efforts. In contrast, the score for the implementation block has remained stable, indicating that actual execution of activities remained relatively stable despite weaknesses in planning and oversight.

Planning and design remain Serbia’s weakest area of performance, partly because the European Union’s (EU) Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp) has not yet been fully adopted or adapted to the Serbian context. Furthermore, although entrepreneurship is recognised as a cross-curricular key competence at all levels of education, practical guidance on effective teaching is lacking, including subject-specific applications, sample lesson plans or activities and approaches to assess learning outcomes (Table 1.1). To date, no national efforts have been made to develop dedicated teaching materials or concrete examples to support classroom implementation.

The economy’s relatively strong performance in implementation lies in the broad provision of opportunities for hands-on entrepreneurial experience. Student co-operatives, operating across primary, secondary and vocational education levels, have expanded steadily, albeit at a modest pace, in recent years. In both 2023 and 2024, five new co-operatives were established annually (ten in total), alongside the equipping of 36 co-operatives in 2023 and 50 in 2024 (Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, 2025[1]; 2024[2]). However, this remains below the annual target of 30 co-operatives to be established and equipped. At the same time, the dual vocational education and training (VET) system has seen significant expansion, supported by a strong legal framework and detailed rulebooks outlining the roles of schools and companies, training duration and structure, remuneration and student performance evaluation. Clear guidelines for employers have helped drive significant uptake: for the 2025/2026 school year, 92 education profiles are available, with 9 344 students and 615 companies offering placements (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, 2025[3]). Despite this progress, there is still room to ensure that all students benefit from meaningful and sustained exposure to work-based learning opportunities (Figure 1.2), given both the limited intensity of placements and the fact that only around 8% of VET students are enrolled in dual VET programmes.

Figure 1.2. Key statistic for Dimension 1, Serbia, 2024

Source: Eurostat (2025[4]).

Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms exist, but their results are not yet systematically translated into policy. At the student level, data are collected for both VET (excluding dual VET) and higher education through the Education Management Information System, covering key indicators such as employment status, time to employment, and sector. At the institutional level, schools undergo semi-regular evaluations, completing partial self-evaluations annually and full evaluations every four to five years, providing additional insights into performance. Despite these mechanisms, findings are rarely applied to inform policy or adapt curricula, limiting their potential to enhance education outcomes and labour market alignment.

Table 1.1. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 1, Sub-dimension 1.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Identify relevant multi-stakeholder national partnership bodies, and assign them a clearly defined responsibility to lead efforts to implement, monitor and evaluate entrepreneurial learning across all levels of education and training	There is currently no national partnership with a specific focus on entrepreneurial learning, nor a broader initiative where it features as a central theme. Instead, co-operation between public, private and non-governmental institutions remains fragmented and lacks co-ordination.	None	See Cluster 4: “Fostering entrepreneurial skills and mindsets through education”
Develop teacher guidance on how to integrate the development of entrepreneurship as a cross-curricular key competence (aligned to EntreComp) at all levels of compulsory education, supported by regular and accessible in-service teacher training opportunities	There are no planned or ongoing efforts at the national level to develop teaching materials specifically aimed at supporting the implementation of the entrepreneurship key competence. However, the Institute for the Advancement of Education and Upbringing offers several dedicated professional development courses for teachers to help them integrate entrepreneurship as a key competence into their teaching.	Limited	See Cluster 4: “Fostering entrepreneurial skills and mindsets through education”
Ensure all pre-service teacher training actively builds expertise in cross-curricular entrepreneurship key competence development	No efforts have been undertaken to build introduce entrepreneurship as a key competence, along with relevant pedagogical knowledge, as a compulsory topic for trainee teachers in pre-service training.	None	See Cluster 4: “Fostering entrepreneurial skills and mindsets through education”

Sub-dimension 1.2: Women’s entrepreneurship

Performance in this sub-dimension has increased modestly to 4.00 in 2026, up from 3.86 in 2022, driven by improvements in implementation and monitoring and evaluation. By contrast, performance in planning and design showed little change, although it remains at a consistently high level of development.

Serbia has maintained a strong strategic focus on planning and design for women’s entrepreneurship: the newly adopted Strategy for the Development of SMEs 2023-2027 renews the focus on women entrepreneurs, reinforced by ongoing commitments in the Employment Strategy 2021-2026 and Gender Equality Strategy 2021-2030. Institutional arrangements supporting implementation have also shown signs of gradual evolution. Work is currently underway to revise the Gender Equality Strategy through a dedicated working group that includes representatives from both governmental and non-governmental organisations, with civil society accounting for a substantial share of participation. The revision aims to address methodological and implementation weaknesses, strengthen the financial and indicator framework and improve alignment with international and national policy commitments.

At the institutional level, the Co-ordination Body for Gender Equality serves as the primary mechanism for cross-government action. To strengthen stakeholder involvement, the government established the Council for Gender Equality in 2023 as an expert advisory body operating under the Co-ordination Body, with representation from both government and civil society (Gender Theme Group in Serbia, 2023[5]). While this reflects growing recognition of the role non-governmental stakeholders can play in advancing women’s entrepreneurship and addressing structural gender barriers, the council’s limited mandate and advisory status constrain its ability to directly influence policy design or lead co-ordination efforts. More recently, the suspension of the Law on Gender Equality, currently under review by the Constitutional Court, has effectively halted the operations of the Co-ordination Body, weakening policy co-ordination and limiting the systematic integration of gender considerations into the planning and design of women’s entrepreneurship policies (Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, 2025[6]) (Table 1.2).

There has been steady progress in expanding support programmes (e.g. access to finance, mentoring, capacity building). The Development Agency of Serbia plays a central role here, delivering 56 one-day training sessions for 528 women entrepreneurs in 2024. These efforts are complemented by initiatives to challenge gender stereotypes in entrepreneurship. However, women’s entrepreneurial activity remains constrained by persistent structural barriers, particularly lower maternity and childcare benefit levels and gaps in social security coverage compared to salaried women.

With respect to monitoring and evaluation, Serbia has taken steps to improve gender-disaggregated data collection, most notably by introducing a requirement in June 2022 for company founders to indicate their gender during registration with the Business Registers Agency (Table 1.2). This enables the generation of more accurate data on women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses. However, the use of these data to inform or refine policies and programmes remains limited, as statistical findings have yet to be systematically compiled or applied in policy design.

Table 1.2. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 1, Sub‑dimension 1.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Identify relevant multi-stakeholder national partnership bodies involving relevant government ministries, private and non-governmental actors, and assign them a clearly defined responsibility to lead efforts to implement, monitor and evaluate women’s entrepreneurship	The establishment of the Council for Gender Equality and the working group for the revision of the Gender Equality Strategy 2021-2030 represented a positive step toward strengthening collaboration between government and civil society actors. However, the effective suspension of the Co-ordination Body for Gender Equality, due to the ongoing constitutional review of the Law on Gender Equality, has halted its ability to implement and monitor women’s entrepreneurship policies.	Limited	See Cluster 4: “Improving talent availability by empowering women entrepreneurs”
Strengthen gender sensitivity checks and the provision of gender-disaggregated data across policies and programmes relating to women’s economic empowerment	The obligation to indicate the gender of a company’s owner or founder during registration with the Business Registers Agency was introduced in June 2022. However, the use of these data to inform and refine policy remains at an early stage.	Moderate	See Cluster 4: “Improving talent availability by empowering women entrepreneurs”

Dimension 2: Bankruptcy and second chance for SMEs in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 2

Serbia scored 2.80 on Dimension 2 (Figure 1.3), which is a significant drop from 3.21 in the previous cycle. This places Serbia below the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) average of 2.97. As in the previous cycle, Dimension 2 remains among the economy’s lowest-scoring areas, underscoring the need for further policy reforms in this area.

Figure 1.3. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 2 and evolution since 2019

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Since 2022, Serbia’s score indicates stagnation in advancing strategic planning and in enhancing the effectiveness of bankruptcy procedures that emphasise both preventive actions and second-chance opportunities. Scores for planning and design, as well as monitoring and evaluation, have on average dropped in all sub-dimensions, with only slight improvements observed in the implementation of measures under the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) bankruptcy framework.

Sub-dimension 2.1: Preventive measures

Performance in this sub-dimension has improved, rising from 2.80 in 2022 to 3.03 in 2026. The planning and design, as well as monitoring and evaluation components, which receive more emphasis in this assessment cycle, have shown limited progress. A modest improvement in implementation accompanies these developments.

Since 2022, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS) has made modest progress in strengthening SME bankruptcy prevention, primarily through targeted advisory support to 29 micro and small enterprises in 2023. In the absence of a fully operational early warning system (EWS), the CCIS has developed business self-assessment indicators and trained 12 mentors. However, the digitisation of an EWS tool remains stalled due to insufficient funding.

These efforts, while relevant, remain limited in scale and sustainability, largely due to the absence of dedicated budget support and the SME Strategy 2023-2027’s insufficient prioritisation of bankruptcy prevention. This limited policy traction is also partly due to weak monitoring and evaluation, as reflected in the lack of data on the uptake of simplified insolvency instruments, such as pre-packaged reorganisation plans or voluntary financial restructuring, which constrains the ability to assess the effectiveness of the prevention system (Table 1.3).

Table 1.3. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 2, Sub-dimension 2.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Develop a fully-fledged early warning system as an insolvency prevention measure to maintain a healthy SME ecosystem	While the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia supported 29 SMEs between February and April 2023, assessing 47 business indicators across six key areas and providing tailored risk management strategies, this remains a pilot initiative and does not yet constitute a fully-fledged early warning system. The current model relies on SMEs voluntarily applying for support, rather than proactively identifying and targeting those at risk. The development of an accessible, scalable online self-assessment tool, initiated in late 2024, is a critical step toward broader reach and impact. To ensure its planned delivery in early 2026 and effectiveness, dedicated government funding will be essential.	Moderate	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”

Sub-dimension 2.2: Survival and bankruptcy procedures

Serbia scored 3.06 on Sub-dimension 2.2 on survival and bankruptcy procedures, marking a notable decline from 3.62 in 2022. This drop reflects continued delays in advancing policy planning and design, particularly in aligning legislation to prioritise simplified and fast-tracked insolvency procedures for SMEs. Implementation also remains limited, and monitoring mechanisms are insufficiently developed.

Since 2022, the delay in adopting amendments to Serbia’s Bankruptcy Law has hindered efforts to simplify and expedite insolvency proceedings, including efforts to digitalise the process (see Table 1.4). Current legal limitations, such as the one-time amendment rule for pre-packaged reorganisation plans,1 contribute to prolonged cases.

Table 1.4. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 2, Sub-dimension 2.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Finalise the digitalisation of liquidation proceedings by introducing the electronic sale portal covered under the new draft amendments	The development of a fully electronic sales system in bankruptcy began in Q4 2024. Technical prerequisites have been established and are currently being tested to improve system functionality, with full operation expected by Q2 2026. However, finalisation of the portal depends on the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Bankruptcy Law and the subsequent adoption of necessary by-laws.	Moderate	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”
Improve the formal bankruptcy reorganisation proceedings	Serbia’s Bankruptcy Law still lacks cram-down provisions. Without the ability for judges to confirm reorganisation plans based on creditors’ best interests, holdout and dissenting creditors continue to obstruct proceedings. The complexity and length of reorganisation under current legal provisions further push creditors toward liquidation, which offers relative speed, predictability and enforceability. In the absence of legal reform, reorganisation remains an underused tool.	No progress	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”
Introduce simplified bankruptcy proceedings for SMEs	Fast-track proceedings are still not available. While simplified reorganisation procedures are expected through forthcoming amendments to the Bankruptcy Law (the timeline is unknown), they would not be specifically tailored to SME needs, such as by setting a maximum debt threshold aligned with the average size of micro and small enterprises.	Limited	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”

Progress in implementation is difficult to measure due to a lack of disaggregated data on SME-related insolvency cases and outcomes, stemming from weak monitoring systems. Although the Bankruptcy Supervision Agency publishes performance indicators, these are not segmented by business size. General data show no significant improvement in overall liquidation trends (see Figure 1.4). Likewise, case durations remain at an average of three years (since 2021), placing them in the mid-range compared to EU Member States.2 Furthermore, policy evaluation remains limited. The Bankruptcy Supervision Agency does not report on the costs of proceedings or conduct gap assessments on liquidation and reorganisation processes, limiting transparency and accountability.

On a more positive note, institutional capacity building continues to advance. Since 2022, the Agency for Licensing of Bankruptcy Trustees has conducted various training sessions for administrators and judges and, in 2025, adopted formal provisions for professional development requirements linked to licensing and renewal.3

Figure 1.4. Key statistics for Sub-dimension 2.2 on survival and bankruptcy procedures, Serbia, 2021-2024

Note: Total business liquidations finalised annually according to the Law on Bankruptcy (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia Nos. 104/2009, 99/2011, 71/2012, 83/2014, 113/2017, 44/2018 and 95/2018).

Source: Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia (2025[7]).

Sub-dimension 2.3: Promoting second chance

Serbia scored 1.80 on Sub-dimension 2.3 on promoting second chance for SMEs, down from 2.00 in 2022. This decline reflects a lack of progress in policy planning and design, no implementation of second-chance programmes for SMEs, and consequently, the absence of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in this area.

Although the SME Strategy 2023-2027 mentions second-chance support, none of the outlined activities align with actual second-chance policies (Table 1.5). No concrete measures have been reported, as there is currently no dedicated second-chance programme for SMEs or businesses more broadly. On a positive note, entrepreneurs are not subject to legal restrictions during bankruptcy that would prevent a fresh start. However, the continued absence of a clear legal distinction between fraudulent and honest bankruptcies may undermine creditor confidence and limit recovery prospects for viable SMEs. The government also cites an ongoing lack of capacity and qualified advisers to develop and implement such a programme in the near future.

Table 1.5. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 2, Sub-dimension 2.3

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Promote second chance to honest entrepreneurs	Dedicated second-chance policies for SMEs remain non-existent, and there are no targeted efforts to reform legal provisions in support of honest entrepreneurs or to raise awareness on opportunities for a fresh start after bankruptcy.	No progress	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”

Dimension 3: Institutional and regulatory framework for SME policymaking in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 3

Serbia scored 3.98 on Dimension 3 (Figure 1.5), reflecting a mature policy framework and a sustained capacity to deliver in this area. Although this represents a decline from the previous cycle’s score of 4.18, Serbia continues to outperform the Western Balkan and Türkiye (WBT) regional average of 3.77 and ranks as the second-highest performer in the region, confirming Dimension 3 as a consistent area of comparative strength.

Figure 1.5. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 3 and evolution since 2019

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Despite a marginal decrease in its score, Serbia’s strong performance rests on substantive developments across the three sub-dimensions since 2022, including the renewal of the strategic framework for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) support, methodological strengthening of regulatory impact assessment, and the consolidation of digital public consultation mechanisms. However, these institutional and procedural advances have not been matched by consistently strong implementation outcomes. Delivery capacity and policy execution have weakened over the cycle, while monitoring systems, inter-institutional co-ordination and structured policy dialogue remain only partially institutionalised. As a result, in a context of relative stagnation, the score has declined as the methodology is designed to benchmark the current state of play against evolving policy practices and standards.

Sub-dimension 3.1: Institutional framework

Performance in this sub-dimension has marginally declined since the previous cycle, from 4.23 in 2022 to 3.97 in 2026. While Serbia has continued to update its policy architecture and planning instruments, delays and gaps in developing the new framework indicate a weakening prioritisation of SME policy within the broader government agenda.

Since the previous assessment, Serbia has consolidated its strategic framework through the adoption of a new SME Strategy and Action Plan 2023-2027, the first to explicitly embed the “think small first” principle as a guiding policy approach. Yet, limitations persist also in the strategic depth of the document, which offers a limited vision for addressing structural gaps in SME support. Developed through structured consultations with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS) and a broad range of business stakeholders, the strategy places strong emphasis on policy continuity, building on existing measures and linking them to strategic goals, while introducing new instruments only to a limited extent. In terms of objectives, the strategy sets relatively modest targets, such as supporting an additional 25 SMEs per year and increasing the share of SMEs offering green products or services by 5 percentage points. In parallel, the SME competitiveness framework has been reinforced by the adoption of the Programme for Combating the Grey Economy 2023-2025, which aims to strengthen the institutional architecture for formalisation by combining enforcement measures with fiscal and administrative facilitation for compliant firms.

Despite strong policy design, implementation dynamics have weakened since the previous cycle. The SME Strategy Action Plan recorded a high initial execution rate (95% in its first year), but this fell to 73% in 2024 and is projected to decline further in 2025, reflecting a more constrained macroeconomic and political context. While tangible progress has been made in reducing informality over the last decade, as evidenced by a decline in the informal economy’s share of gross domestic product from 29% to 21%, the strategy’s delivery capacity relative to its targets cannot yet be fully assessed, as no comprehensive implementation report has been published.

Responsibility for SME-related statistics is dispersed across multiple institutions, with limited co-ordination with the statistical system and no centralised data governance framework. As a result, the availability, comparability and analytical usability of SME data remain constrained, limiting evidence-based policy steering (Table 1.6).

Table 1.6. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 3, Sub-dimension 3.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Expand and streamline SME data collection	Only minor changes were made to enrich publicly available SME statistics, primarily the introduction of gender statistics collected by the Serbian Business Registers Agency. There is no evidence of strengthened inter-institutional co-ordination with statistical offices, particularly regarding SME data on innovation, public procurement, greening, and the informal economy, which are collected by multiple bodies without a common registry or standardisation process.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Sub-dimension 3.2: Legislative simplification and regulatory impact assessment

Serbia scored 4.17 on Sub-dimension 3.2 on legislative simplification and regulatory impact assessment (RIA), the same score as in 2022, despite methodology adjustments that increased the stringency of the assessment (see Methodology). Serbia continues to combine advanced policy planning and design for RIA and simplification with weak outcome-oriented monitoring and limited feedback loops, constraining the system’s capacity to translate strong regulatory design into measurable improvements for SMEs.

A key development has been the adoption of the 2025 Regulation on Regulatory Impact Analysis, which establishes a dedicated SME Test as an integral component of the RIA framework. This introduces a structured, step-by-step approach to assessing SME impacts, requiring authorities to identify affected SMEs, consult relevant stakeholders, examine mitigation options, and quantify administrative and financial burdens using a Standard Cost Model calculator developed by the Public Policy Secretariat (PPS). This represents a significant methodological strengthening, embedding the “think small first” principle directly into ex ante regulatory assessment and addressing a long-standing gap whereby SME impacts had previously been considered only sporadically. The framework remains anchored in the Law on the Planning System, which mandates RIAs prior to drafting legislation, and is supported by central quality-control functions exercised by the PPS.

Despite the strengthened methodology, implementation remains uneven. SME representatives are not yet systematically integrated into RIA processes, and there is no consolidated information on when assessments are initiated within the legislative cycle. In practice, SME-related aspects are addressed in only a limited share of assessments, and there is no established ex post evaluation to test whether anticipated impacts and mitigation measures translate into real burden reduction for firms. Meanwhile, legislative and procedural simplification continues to be driven by the ePapir Programme, which remains a regional benchmark, with 762 procedures simplified, digitalised or abolished to date (Figure 1.6) and a 2025 Action Plan targeting the optimisation of close to 1 000 additional procedures.

While the PPS reviews RIAs and provides technical feedback to line ministries, its opinions are nonbinding, allowing proposals to proceed with limited alignment with central quality standards (Table 1.7). In parallel, although the simplification agenda is structured and progress is reported through annual reports and programme cycle reviews submitted to the Government, greater transparency regarding the forward pipeline of business-related legislative reforms would strengthen predictability. Moreover, monitoring remains largely focused on outputs and implementation progress, with less systematic assessment of the actual impact of reforms on regulatory burden reduction for businesses.

Figure 1.6. Key statistics for Sub-dimension 3.2 on legislative simplification and regulatory impact assessment, Serbia, 2020-2024

Number of procedures simplified, digitalised or abolished/improved

Source: Information provided by the Government of Serbia to the OECD for this assessment.

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Table 1.7. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 3, Sub-dimension 3.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Introduce regular monitoring and evaluation of the use of regulatory impact assessment	The Public Policy Secretariat is responsible for supervising regulatory impact assessments (RIAs). It also publishes all RIAs on its website after the government has adopted the regulations. Issuing monitoring reports, for example, on the effectiveness of RIA to modify regulatory proposals or on the ability of quality controls to feed back into the RIA guidance, is yet to begin.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Sub-dimension 3.3: Public-private consultations

Serbia scored 3.60 on Sub-dimension 3.3 on public-private consultations (PPCs), marking a notable decline from 4.12 in 2022. This decline does not reflect a weakening of the formal framework, which remains among the most advanced in the region, but rather persistent gaps between regulatory design and practical application, stemming from weaknesses in enforcement, procedural discipline and institutional accountability.

In Serbia, all draft laws and regulations are formally subject to consultation requirements, supported by a detailed Public Consultation Manual that provides methodological guidance on consultation design, stakeholder mapping, feedback analysis and reporting. The framework is broadly aligned with OECD and EU good practices, embedding consultation as a standard phase of the regulatory cycle. However, while procedural obligations are clearly codified, the system relies heavily on self-compliance by line ministries, with limited central enforcement mechanisms and no dedicated central authority mandated to ensure quality, consistency and strategic coherence of consultations across government (Table 1.7).

In practice, performance remains uneven and below policy standards. In 2023, only 45% of adopted laws were subject to public consultation, a figure considered insufficient by both the European Commission and OECD SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management) (European Commission, 2024[8]; OECD, 2025[9]); although this increased to 58.3% in 2024, it remains well below the benchmark target of 75%. While the legal framework requires early notification of drafting activities, stakeholder engagement and the publication of consultation reports, it does not prescribe a mandatory minimum duration for consultations, with authorities retaining discretion to adapt consultation timelines to the specific context. Good practice examples exist, such as the structured consultations conducted during the development of the SME Strategy with the CCIS, but these remain exceptions rather than the norm. The growing use of digital consultations via the e-Consultation Portal managed by the PPS has improved access to draft legislation. However, limited outreach and low interaction rates continue to limit SME participation.

There is no dedicated institutional mechanism responsible for assessing consultation quality, stakeholder coverage or policy impact, and no SME-specific reporting framework to track business participation in regulatory dialogue (Table 1.8). The e-Consultation Portal provides transparency by publishing draft acts and consultation timelines and provides authorities with the necessary functionalities to collect and process stakeholder input. While the Portal supports reporting and information management, the broader system does not yet consistently generate comparative or outcome-oriented insights (e.g. stakeholder diversity, SME participation rates, feedback integration, policy modifications following consultations, etc.) limiting opportunities for structured learning and continuous improvement across government.

Table 1.8. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 3, Sub-dimension 3.3

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Strengthen inter-institutional co-ordination for effective use of public-private consultations	There have been limited attempts to ensure that public-private consultations (PPCs) are conducted more regularly and across all ministries. One exception is e-Consultation promotion and training, which are regularly conducted by the Public Policy Secretariat as part of a compulsory training for public officials.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”
Introduce quality control and reporting on the public-private consultation process	No overseeing institution has been nominated to lead the monitoring and reporting of PPCs. Such a body would not only fill the quality-control gap but also identify priority areas for improvement and explore potential solutions for the lack of engagement of the private sector. No SME-specific indicators have been introduced, for example, to capture business stakeholders’ size, sector or type of activity when engaging in PPCs.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Dimension 4: Operational environment for SMEs in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 4

Serbia scored 4.03 on Dimension 4 (Figure 1.7), indicating broadly stable performance relative to the 3.98 recorded in 2022. Against a backdrop of modest regional uplift, Serbia shifted from the second to the third tier among Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) economies, while remaining above the regional average of 3.75. Compared with other policy areas, Dimension 4 remains one of Serbia’s strongest.

Figure 1.7. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 4 and evolution since 2019

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Serbia’s sustained performance on Dimension 4 reflects progress in the provision of digital government services, expanded access to e-services, full digitalisation of registration procedures and the procedural streamlining of business licensing. At the same time, company registration continues to be hindered by fragmented identification requirements, while business licensing monitoring mechanisms remain underdeveloped and the transition to fully transactional services remains pending.

Sub-dimension 4.1: Digital government services for SMEs

Serbia scored 4.01 on Sub-dimension 4.1 on digital government services, a moderate improvement from 3.80 in 2022, reflecting some progress in aligning policy frameworks with EU standards, expanding the availability of digital services for businesses and strengthening the open data ecosystem.

On the policy planning and design side, the extension of the eGovernment Development Programme (2023-2025) consolidates the digital-by-default and once-only principles. In parallel, a draft Law on eGovernment aims to transpose the EU Open Data and Re-use of Public Sector Information Directive and foresees the publication of high-value datasets in business-relevant sectors, such as geospatial data and mobility. As the law remains in draft form, its final scope and enforcement mechanisms are not yet certain.

Policy implementation improved, largely due to the significant expansion of services and institutional enablers. The ePapir Programme (see Dimension 3, Sub-dimension 3.2: Legislative simplification and regulatory impact assessment) has simplified, digitalised or abolished 762 administrative procedures since its inception, including 227 in 2024, with the 2025 Action Plan containing recommendations to optimise close to 1 000 further procedures for businesses and citizens. The e-government portal, eUprava, now offers more than 180 services for legal entities, with automatic business registration introduced in 2024 to facilitate access, building on its role as the central point of digital public services for both citizens and businesses. Data sharing across institutions has also intensified, with 520 authorities connected to central registries and 587 institutions using the unified eDelivery system. SMEs also benefit from the Open Data Hub, which fosters collaboration and supports start-ups and SMEs in reusing datasets. Similarly, the Open Data Portal (data.gov.rs) has nearly doubled the number of available datasets, from 1 790 in 2022 to 3 260 in 2025, with an Open Data Hub also established as a dedicated support tool for SMEs. However, while SMEs are the main users and indirect beneficiaries of these systems, most solutions remain general-purpose administrative tools for the entire private sector rather than instruments tailored to SME needs. Moreover, operational gaps persist in specific service areas: the Entrepreneurship Portal (preduzetnistvo.gov.rs), designed to serve as a one-stop platform providing SMEs with information on available support programmes, has not been regularly updated since mid-2025, limiting entrepreneurs' timely access to information on public support measures and business development opportunities. In addition, full digitalisation of procedural certificates remains inconsistent across government systems.

Progress on monitoring and evaluation has been more limited, with only incremental developments since the previous cycle. The Open Data Portal integrates user surveys, comment sections, and dataset-specific discussion threads, and platform usage is tracked via the Matomo analytics platform (Table 1.9). SMEs are recognised as a target group, and some disaggregated data on business size and type are collected through dedicated support programmes. Nevertheless, there is little evidence that user feedback systematically informs service improvements or that evaluation frameworks consistently track SME uptake and impact over time. Access to monitoring data also remains limited, constraining a more robust assessment of outcomes.

Table 1.9. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 4, Sub-dimension 4.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Ensure that SME-specific data are collected when improving the user feedback system for digital services	Serbia has made moderate progress in strengthening feedback and monitoring mechanisms for digital government services, with some attention to SME-specific data collection. Through the Open Data Portal, the government now gathers feedback via surveys, dataset-specific comment sections, and discussion threads, while usage is tracked through the Matomo analytics platform. SMEs are explicitly recognised as a target group, with disaggregated data collected by business size and type. The Office for Information Technology and eGovernment has also introduced a live Power BI dashboard to track dataset quality and showcase reuse examples. While these efforts have improved the responsiveness of open data initiatives and created space for more user-centred adjustments, systematic SME-level monitoring frameworks remain absent, limiting the extent of measurable progress since the last assessment.	Moderate	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Sub-dimension 4.2: Company registration

Serbia’s score for Sub-dimension 4.2 decreased from 4.68 in 2022 to 4.20 in 2026. While company registration policy remains advanced and processes are among the most streamlined in the region, the decrease is driven by performance deterioration in centralised monitoring and evaluation systems.

Unlike the single ID approach adopted in most WBT economies, businesses in Serbia still require two identification numbers to interact with different administrative authorities: the company code (which also serves as the registration number) and the tax identification number. Nevertheless, since 2022, company registration has been fully digitalised across all company types and procedures (including incorporation, amendments, liquidation, issuance of electronic excerpts and online payments). As the responsible body, the Serbian Business Registers Agency (SBRA) runs an information centre and technical support to guide entrepreneurs and business owners through the digital transition. However, no agency is formally mandated to report on implementation or to evaluate the effectiveness of the company registration process. While the SBRA makes recorded data available upon request to state and local authorities, they remain inaccessible to the wider public.

Sub-dimension 4.3: Business licensing

Serbia scored 3.88 on Sub-dimension 4.3 on business licensing, substantially unchanged from 3.85 in 2022. The thematic block scores indicate that licensing procedures have improved, whereas monitoring mechanisms have not advanced at the same pace.

Since the last cycle, the Public Policy Secretariat has continued to implement the ePapir Programme, which has been instrumental in removing red tape and improving business licensing in Serbia (see Dimension 3: Institutional and regulatory framework for SME policymaking in Serbia). Its 2023-2025 Programme of Work and Action Plan lays out plans to streamline the RAP, which serves as a centralised, publicly accessible repository of all licence-related processes across more than 100 institutions. Specifically, the RAP will be updated to include clear descriptions of required documents, timelines, and fees for all licence types, with the longer-term goal of converting RAP services from informational to fully transactional. This would entail streamlining applications, payments, and status tracking online through RAP. If implemented as planned, Serbia will achieve stronger interoperability between the eUprava platform and all institutions that issue licences, a key recommendation from the SME Policy Index 2022 (Table 1.10). At present, however, integration between the registration phase and relevant licensing pathways remains largely reactive rather than automated. Enhancing cross-platform linkages could improve user navigation and reinforce a coherent, end-to-end digital business lifecycle.

Table 1.10. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 4, Sub-dimension 4.3

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Strengthen co-ordination between eUprava authorities and institutions in charge of issuing business licences to improve interoperability	Co-ordination has improved through the ePapir governance framework, with the Public Policy Secretariat managing the Register of Administrative Procedures, the Office for IT and eGovernment providing technical leadership, and ministries and local governments adopting interoperable services. Progress on establishing a single dedicated eUprava department to co-ordinate all licence issuers is lacking, and expert assessments, including SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management), continue to highlight uneven implementation, capacity gaps, and ongoing para-fiscal and procedural burdens for businesses.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Sub-dimension 4.4: Tax compliance procedures for SMEs

SMEs in Serbia continue to face several tax policy challenges, including a relatively high labour tax burden stemming from the level of mandatory social security contributions (SSC) (24% for pensions, 10.3% for health, and 0.75% for unemployment insurance) and limited access to tax incentives due to complex procedures and eligibility thresholds. Since 2022, the government has sought to ease these pressures through targeted relief on personal income tax and SSC for employers hiring new staff. Until the end of 2025, employers can claim refunds of 65%, 70% or 75% of paid payroll tax and SSC, depending on the number of newly employed individuals, with micro and small entities eligible for the maximum 75% refund when hiring at least two new employees.

Improvements have also been introduced to tax compliance frameworks for self-employed individuals, including the establishment of a dedicated taxation regime for freelancers in 2023. Freelancers may opt for two alternative models: Model A offers a 20% income tax rate with a fixed quarterly deductible expense of RSD 96 000 (Serbian dinars) (approximately EUR 800), alongside mandatory SSC (24% for pension and disability insurance and 10.3% for health insurance). Model B applies a 10% income tax rate, with deductible expenses comprising RSD 57 900 (~EUR 500) plus 34% of gross income; SSC rates remain the same, but minimum contribution bases are higher, resulting in higher minimum liabilities. In parallel, the establishment of a dedicated freelancers’ online portal in 2023 has strengthened digital compliance by enabling online income reporting, automating the calculation of tax and contribution liabilities, and simplifying declaration procedures.

For lump-sum entrepreneurs (paušalci), regulatory changes introduced in 2023 include a 50% tax reduction for the first year of operation (PURS, 2023[10]) and a temporary measure, in force until the end of 2025, limiting annual increases in the lump-sum tax base to a maximum of 10% (KPMG, 2023[11]) (Table 1.11). These measures aim to encourage informal workers to formalise their operations and to make tax compliance more predictable and cost-effective, particularly during the critical first year of business. However, as the cap on annual tax base growth remains temporary, stakeholders have pointed to remaining uncertainty regarding longer-term tax predictability. In addition, the income threshold for eligibility under the lump-sum regime has remained unchanged for over a decade, despite inflation and wage growth. Compliance is further supported by the ePorezi online platform, which enables lump-sum entrepreneurs to file their annual income tax return digitally and pay fixed monthly liabilities. Simultaneously, a one-time self-employment grant of RSD 250 000 (approx. EUR 2 150) is awarded to new business-owners via the National Employment Service.

Table 1.11. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 4, Sub-dimension 4.4

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Rebalance the tax burden of unincorporated and incorporated SMEs to limit the tax-induced incentive for SMEs to incorporate	There is no evidence of targeted tax reforms that explicitly reduce the tax gap between unincorporated and incorporated SMEs. Policy reforms have rather tended toward targeted relief. Although reforms to tax regimes for freelancers and lump-sum entrepreneurs improve compliance flexibility and predictability for unincorporated activity, they do not reallocate the overall tax burden relative to incorporated entities.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”
Evaluate the tax burden faced by SMEs at the threshold between the lump-sum tax regime and the standard personal income tax regime	Serbia has introduced measures that improve predictability and stability within the lump-sum regime. However, there is no evidence of a structured evaluation of the effective tax and compliance burden at the transition threshold between the lump-sum regime and the standard personal income tax regime.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”
Develop a comprehensive strategy to ease tax administration procedures for SMEs, by assessing the remaining hurdles and increasing tax literacy for SMEs, for instance, through business surveys	Serbia has begun a Tax Administration Modernisation Project with the World Bank to reduce the compliance burden, including developing an integrated tax management system and reducing face-to-face interactions through digital services. However, entrepreneurs still face the burden of multiple separate monthly tax and social security contributions payments, while the National Alliance for Local Economic Development continues to advocate for a unified monthly payment system.	Moderate	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Dimension 5a: Business support services for SMEs in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 5a

Serbia received an overall score of 4.09 on Dimension 5a on business support services (BSS) (Figure 1.8), a slight decline from its previous score of 4.28 in 2022. This places Serbia as the third-highest performer in this dimension in the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) region, closely aligned with the regional average of 4.07. Moreover, Dimension 5a continues to be one of the economy’s higher scoring areas, reflecting the relatively strong strategic and institutional foundations of its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) support framework.

Figure 1.8. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 5a and evolution since 2019

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This score highlights Serbia’s sustained and increasingly sophisticated efforts to strengthen its institutional and strategic approach to SME support services. Its overall performance reflects continued progress in modernising the SME support framework, notably through the adoption of the 2023-2027 SME Development Strategy and its 2023-2024 Action Plan, both aimed at fostering a more enabling environment for SME competitiveness. Alignment with European Union and OECD standards has advanced further, particularly in strategic planning; institutional co-ordination; and the expansion of support for innovation, digitalisation and inclusive entrepreneurship. Key improvements include the introduction of performance-based budgeting, differentiated services tailored to specific target groups and enhanced inter-ministerial dialogue platforms, together signalling greater policy maturity. Nonetheless, important gaps remain in demand-driven service design, independent evaluation and the integration of private providers, areas already flagged in the 2022 assessment and still requiring greater adjustment to ensure effective implementation (OECD, 2022[12]).

Sub-dimension 5a.1: Business support services provided by the government

Performance on this sub-dimension has remained broadly stable, with a score of 4.39 in 2026, compared to 4.48 in 2022 (Figure 1.8). This stability reflects offsetting developments across thematic blocks, with continued strengths in planning and design counterbalanced by challenges in implementation and monitoring and evaluation during the early phase of the new strategic framework. While a more structured approach to BSS has been established, capacity constraints and delays in scaling delivery and evaluation systems have limited further performance gains.

Planning and design arrangements have increased following the adoption of the new strategy and Action Plan, which establish a structured framework for planning and delivering BSS across all stages of an SME’s life cycle. The framework is backed by dedicated annual funding of RSD 1.23 billion (EUR 10.5 million) and shaped by SME needs assessments and consultations. These planning improvements build on the long-standing Standardised Set of Services (SSU), funded by the Ministry of Economy since 2012 and delivered through Accredited Regional Development Agencies. Co-ordination among the main national institutions including the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Innovation, the Development Agency of Serbia, the Innovation Fund, the National Employment Service, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, 17 accredited regional development agencies (ARRAs) and municipal governments has improved considerably, with clearer mandates and responsibilities, but full alignment across national, regional and donor-supported efforts remains a work in progress, as these actors adjust to new strategic requirements and operational realities.

Building on this strengthened strategic foundation, Serbia continues to demonstrate accelerated implementation efforts with support programmes expanding in scope and reach, particularly through sustained training offers by the Development Agency of Serbia, the National Employment Service and the Chamber of Commerce. The Standardised Set of Services (SSU)4 remains the support backbone, engaging a total of 213 SMEs in 2023 through essential training, advisory and mentoring services (Government of Serbia, 2024[13]). The range and scope of BSS provided by the public sector – including tailored initiatives for women, youth and start-ups, such as the Smart Start programme5 – aim to broaden the portfolio with additional SSU services on the green economy and social entrepreneurship planned for introduction from 2026, while the introduction of digital platforms like the SME HUB (Box 1.1) and Responsible Business Hub have improved access to compliance and export tools, including self-diagnostic tools for environmental, social and governance standards and supply chain requirements. Nevertheless, progress on some planned activities and uptake has been uneven during the first two years of the strategy: many initiatives were postponed to later stages due to limited resources and some specialised or pilot programmes remain heavily reliant on international donor funding (e.g. EU-Pro Plus and Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance-funded pilots), contributing to lower uptake of more complex, capability-building instruments compared to traditional support measures, despite the availability of dedicated national funding for core services. Persistent challenges – including administrative bottlenecks, regional disparities and the need to scale specialised offerings – continue to limit the reach of support. Crucially, while initiatives to analyse SME needs annually are in place, the postponement of a comprehensive national SME needs survey to 2025 represents a setback, limiting Serbia’s capacity to accurately tailor support to evolving business demands (Table 1.12).

While regular reporting on BSS activities is in place, monitoring and evaluation practices have seen little improvement since 2022, with a continued focus on outputs (e.g. number of SMEs supported) instead of business outcomes.6 Oversight by the Development Agency of Serbia is limited to evaluating ARRAs’ performance rather than end-user impact, with no independent reviews, public reporting or formal SME feedback mechanisms, leading to a limited capacity to assess effectiveness and make evidence‑based adjustments to respond effectively to the complex needs of Serbia’s SME sector.

Box 1.1. Spotlight: The SME HUB: Serbia’s flagship non-financial support platform

Launched in October 2023, the SME HUB was created to tackle long-standing barriers faced by Serbian manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including limited integration into global value chains (GVCs), underdeveloped management practices and insufficient operational standards. Its main objective is to strengthen SME competitiveness by enabling business transformations and building linkages with strategic buyers, aligning closely with Serbia’s SME Strategy priorities on professionalisation and global value chain integration.

The SME HUB is a public-private initiative led by ICT Hub in partnership with the Development Agency of Serbia and supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It offers diagnostic assessments, tailored transformation plans, expert advisory support and strategic buyer linkages to connect SMEs with domestic and multinational companies. Early results show strong uptake: by early 2025, more than 60 SMEs had expressed interest, 24 had entered transformation processes worth EUR 1.67 million and collaboration had been established with more than 12 large companies. Participating SMEs report improved operational efficiency and projected revenue growth exceeding 35% (Serbia Business, 2024[14]). Backed by EUR 7.3 million and targeting up to 80 SMEs by 2027, the SME HUB is emerging as a scalable, performance-oriented model for SME capability building rather than short-term aid, highly relevant for Serbia as it seeks to deepen supply chain integration, address regional disparities and accelerate the competitiveness of its manufacturing base (Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, 2024[15]; ICT Hub, 2026[16]).

Sources: Serbia Business (2024[14]); Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (2024[15]); ICT Hub (2026[16]).

Table 1.12. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 5a, Sub‑dimension 5a.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Continue efforts to match business support service (BSS) supply with demand from SMEs	A more regular approach to conducting systematic annual training-needs assessments is in place. However, some delays to carry out a nationwide survey have limited the potential to fully capture the current needs of SMEs.	Moderate	See Cluster 1: Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs
Invite an independent institution to conduct a thorough review of public and private BSS	No independent institution has been engaged to assess the overall support ecosystem. The evaluation is still carried out by the Development Agency of Serbia, primarily involving internal actors.	Limited	See Cluster 1: Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs

Sub-dimension 5a.2: Government initiatives to stimulate private business support services

Performance on this sub-dimension deteriorated moderately, with Serbia’s score declining from 4.07 in 2022 to 3.80 in 2026 (Figure 1.8). This decline was driven primarily by weaker performance in the planning and design and monitoring and evaluation thematic blocks, reflecting gaps in the strategic framework for private BSS development and the absence of robust learning and quality-assurance mechanisms. By contrast, implementation performance remained broadly stable, suggesting that existing delivery arrangements continue to function but are not supported by sufficiently strong governance and oversight systems.

As mentioned above, planning and design arrangements for stimulating private BSS development have weakened since the previous assessment cycle, reflected in a notable decline in this thematic block. Engagement of private providers continues to rely on SSU, which serves as the primary framework for accreditation and contracting but remains largely confined to ARRAs. The absence of demand-side instruments such as vouchers or co-financing schemes, together with the lack of a central government portal for identifying and accessing private BSS providers, further constrains market-based provision. As a result, planning remains focused on administratively mediated service delivery rather than fostering a diversified and competitive private BSS market (Table 1.13).

Implementation performance has remained broadly stable compared to the previous assessment cycle, consistent with the marginal change observed in the score for this thematic block. In practice, 17 ARRAs deliver the services under the SSU, yet broader engagement with private sector providers remains stagnant. As such, private BSS largely operate as subcontractors within government programmes rather than as independent providers directly accessed by SMEs. Awareness and outreach efforts are improving but remain moderate, especially in less developed regions. Donor-supported pilot initiatives, including Smart Start, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) mentoring innovation programmes such as Katapult, StarTech, and Small & Powerful, have strengthened private providers’ skills and service quality through training and certification programmes, and mentorship and coaching initiatives. These efforts have contributed to more professional delivery of BSS, even though full market integration and consistent quality assurance mechanisms are still evolving.

Monitoring of these services focuses mainly on financial and activity-level reporting, without independent evaluations or structured SME feedback mechanisms to measure service quality and impact. This narrow scope of oversight, combined with the absence of a national accreditation system beyond SSU requirements, constrains the scale and effectiveness of private BSS provision, limiting its potential for Serbia’s SME ecosystem (Table 1.13).

Table 1.13. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 5a, Sub‑dimension 5a.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Extend the accreditation procedure to include more private sector business support service (BSS) providers	Accreditation of BSS providers within the public SME support system is primarily carried out by the Development Agency of Serbia. However, this applies exclusively to regional development agencies; there is no mandatory accreditation system for private BSS providers.	Limited	See Cluster 1: Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs
Introduce government tools to assist SMEs in accessing privately provided BSS	There is no central government portal or tool for accessing private BSS providers, and no active steps have been taken since 2018 to reverse this trend.	Limited	See Cluster 1: Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs

Dimension 5b: Public procurement in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 5b

Serbia scored 4.35 on Dimension 5b (Figure 1.9), placing it above the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) average of 4.05, making it the second-highest-scoring economy in the region for this dimension. This represents a modest improvement over its score of 4.25 in the previous cycle. Dimension 5b remains one of Serbia’s higher-scoring policy areas, reflecting the relative strength and maturity of the public procurement framework compared to other dimensions.

Figure 1.9. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 5b and evolution since 2019

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The increase in the overall score since 2022 reflects progress in implementation and monitoring and evaluation, while performance in planning and design remained broadly stable at a high level. The evolution of scoring shows that Serbia’s performance has improved broadly in line with the overall rate of progress observed across the WBT region. At the same time, challenges related to limited competition and the continued use of exemptions from the Public Procurement Law (PPL) continue to constrain further progress.

Developments since 2022

Notable trends have emerged in the size and structure of Serbia’s public procurement market. The public procurement market has grown steadily, from 9.34% of gross domestic product in 2022 to 10.87% in 2024 (Public Procurement Office, 2022-2024[17]). Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to have a strong presence, receiving 75.82% of contracts by number (76.08% in 2022) and 73.41% by value in 2024 (61.42% in 2022) (Public Procurement Office, 2022-2024[17]). The share of contracts awarded based on the best price-quality ratio with 9.78% of procedures that used these criteria in 2024, compared to just 4% of awarded contracts in 2022 (Public Procurement Office, 2022-2024[17]). While the use of competitive procedures remains high, negotiated procedures without prior publication decreased to 1.27% of cases in 2024 from 1.29% in 2022, indicating that competition remains low. The average number of bids per procedure was 2.4 in 2024 (2.5 in 2022), and 50.75% of tenders received only one bid (51.6% in 2022) (Public Procurement Office, 2022-2024[17]) (Figure 1.10). Survey responses collected during the OECD Support for Improvement in Governance and Management (SIGMA) 2024 Assessment indicate that many economic operators refrain from participation due to perceived favouritism or pre-arranged outcomes (OECD, 2025[18]).

Figure 1.10. Public procurement market and competition levels in Serbia and WBT economies, 2024

Source: Public Procurement Office (2022-2024[17]).

Serbia’s performance in planning and design declined slightly from 4.69 in 2022 to 4.57 in 2026, while the strategic and legal foundations of the public procurement framework remain largely solid and well established. The Programme for the Development of Public Procurement in the Republic of Serbia for the Period 2024-2028 (“2024-2028 Programme”) (Government of Serbia, 2024[19]) and its action plan include goals and measures to support SME participation in public procurement. The PPL was amended in 2023 and remains highly aligned with the EU 2014 Directives. However, the practice of exempting large-scale infrastructure projects and contracts, such as EXPO BELGRADE 2027, from the application of the PPL through the adoption of special laws has continued. These exemptions, which effectively bypass the PPL, raise concerns about compliance with the EU acquis, particularly regarding remedies, deadlines, thresholds and conditions for participation (OECD, 2025[18]).

Serbia’s performance in implementation improved substantially, increasing from 4.32 in 2022 to 4.63 in 2026, reflecting strengthened institutional capacity, enhanced use of non-price award criteria, and improved procedural efficiency. The Public Procurement Office (PPO) has continued to support contracting authorities and economic operators, including SMEs, by emphasising practical implementation tools and tailored training programmes. Considerable efforts have been made through the 2024 amendments to the PPL to promote the use of non-price award criteria and to advance sustainable and innovative procurement practices (Table 1.14; Box 1.2). Training activities are available for economic operators; however, these efforts need to be better tailored to the specific needs of SMEs within procurement processes. The private sector actively participates in broad consultations on the development of strategic and legal frameworks. Nevertheless, further improvement is needed in engaging stakeholders during the preparation of more targeted policy instruments, such as training curricula or implementation guidelines.

Table 1.14. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 5b

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Promote the practical application of non-price criteria for the award of public contracts, in particular sustainable public procurement criteria, and provide more support to contracting authorities	The Public Procurement Office, supported by technical assistance projects, has been organising various training activities focused on implementing the Public Procurement Law, including the application of price-quality criteria and the integration of environmental and social considerations. A range of manuals is available, including the Guidelines on the Use of the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT). Several model tender documents for different types of goods, services and works are also available, providing examples of price-quality criteria. This follows the adoption of an amendment in 2024 to the Public Procurement Law introducing principles of environmental protection and quality as key selection criterion.	Strong	Continue to provide tailor-made training and provide practical examples to support effective implementation and build capacity

As the core instrument of transparency and e-procurement, the Public Procurement Portal continues to play a vital role in the procurement process. The portal remains the central point of transparency of procedures and implementation of electronic procurement. It was upgraded in 2024 with a dedicated EXPO 2027 module to increase transparency of EXPO-related procurements, excluded from the PPL (Public Procurement Office, 2026[20]).

Legal protection of economic operators continued to be ensured by the Republic Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures (RCPRPP), in accordance with the PPL. However, review mechanisms remain suspended for the aforementioned EXPO BELGRADE 2027. The average duration of RCPRPP decisions continues to decrease, standing at 18.51 days from receipt of full documentation in 2023, reflecting improved procedural efficiency relative to 24.18 days in 2022 (Republic Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures, 2022-2024[21]).

Box 1.2. Supporting contracting authorities in implementing sustainable and innovative procurement

Sustainable and innovative procurement can create new market opportunities for SMEs by rewarding value-added solutions instead of focusing solely on price. It allows smaller firms to stand out through their specialised expertise, flexibility and creativity.

In Serbia, the 2024-2028 Public Procurement Programme defines one of its key objectives as: “Specific Objective 2 – Wider application of environmental and social aspects and techniques and instruments in public procurement”. In line with this goal, efforts have continued and intensified to increase the share of procedures that incorporate sustainable and innovative procurement practices.

A significant regulatory step in this direction is the adoption of the Rulebook on the Types of Goods for which Contracting Authorities are Obliged to Apply Environmental Aspects in Public Procurement Procedures, which mandates the application of environmental criteria for specific categories of goods. This rulebook entered into force on 1 January 2024.

The PPO has also emphasised the development and dissemination of practical tools to support implementation. Notable examples include the Guidelines for Green Public Procurement: How to Apply Environmental Aspects in Public Procurement and the guide on Innovation Partnership. A variety of model tender documents are also made available, including a template for the Partnership for Innovation – Development of an Integrated Smart System for Traffic and Car Park Management. Capacity building is another priority area. Sustainable and innovative procurement topics are integrated into regular training programmes for procurement officers, as well as in tailor-made training sessions designed to meet specific institutional needs. Further support is provided through the ongoing project, Enhancing Competitiveness through More Effective Public Procurement and Sustainable Supply Chains, implemented by the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. As part of this initiative, workshops are organised to promote the use of green and social criteria in procurement practice.

As outlined in the 2024-2028 Programme, increased use of environmental and social criteria, along with innovative procurement procedures, is expected in the coming years, driven by the measures under Specific Objective 2.

Sources: Government of Serbia (2024[19]); Public Procurement Office (2026[22]); NALED (2024[23]).

Serbia’s performance in monitoring and evaluation improved moderately, increasing from 3.40 in 2022 to 3.56 in 2026. This reflects strengthened data collection and analytical practices related to public procurement procedures. However, important gaps remain in the availability of key outcome indicators. Data on the use of sustainable criteria are not systematically provided, and although legal mechanisms to address late payments are in place, data on the proportion of public contracts paid on time are unavailable. While the PPO collects general data on obstacles faced by economic operators through various activities, there is no analytical overview specifically addressing the challenges SMEs face in accessing public procurement procedures.

Dimension 6: Access to finance for SMEs in Serbia

Overview of the dimension performance

Serbia received an overall score of 3.17 on Dimension 67 (Figure 1.11). While this represents a slight drop from its score in the previous cycle (3.38),8 Serbia is the third-best performer in the Western Balkan and Türkiye (WBT) region, in line with the regional average of 3.21. Dimension 6 is one of the economy’s comparatively lower-scoring areas, highlighting room for further progress in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SME’s) access to finance.

The decrease in Serbia’s score since 2022 primarily reflects the decline in sub-dimension 6.1 (bank finance) and the absence of substantial progress in sub-dimension 6.2 (non-bank finance). Over the last cycle, Serbia has not further developed alternative avenues of access to finance for SMEs, while ceasing to promote existing tools that facilitate access to bank finance.

Figure 1.11. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 6 and evolution since 2019

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Sub-dimension 6.1: Bank finance

Performance in the bank finance sub-dimension has decreased, from 3.749 in 2022 to 3.33 in 2026, largely reflecting more limited policies that facilitate credit, such as the phasing out of public credit guarantee schemes, alongside a greater emphasis on monitoring and evaluation in the scoring calculations.

Serbia’s banking system operates within a relatively strong credit information infrastructure. Serbia has a credit bureau managed by the Association of Serbian Banks (ASB) and supervised by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) and the Data Protection Office. Although it charges a membership fee, the ASB’s credit bureau includes all Serbian financial institutions engaged in credit activities and covers 100% of natural and legal persons.

Serbia benefit from a comprehensive asset registration system, including a full cadastre and a well-established pledge registry for movable assets, which provides banks with solid collateral frameworks. The Law on Pledge of Movable Assets and Rights only permits the pledging of company shares, claims, and a limited set of property rights. The Pledge Register itself records rights of pledge only over monetary claims derived from copyright and related rights, excluding intangible assets more broadly.

Serbia’s policies facilitating access to credit for SMEs have been downsized following the discontinuation of its credit guarantee schemes, which had been operating during the previous assessment cycle. Introduced in 2020 under the Law on Establishing a Guarantee Scheme, these facilities provided guarantees for loans of up to EUR 3 billion on favourable terms, helping SMEs weather the impact of COVID-19. Their implementation ended in July 2022, and no replacement scheme has been introduced since then. The only remaining support programmes are provided by international financial institutions in partnership with commercial banks. Still, these are too limited in scale to offset the financing gap. The end of the public-guaranteed schemes contributed to a deterioration in SMEs' access to bank finance, as their share of total outstanding commercial bank loans dropped from 36.2% in 2019 to 30.7% in 2024 (International Monetary Fund, 2025), while the WBT average figure remained stable at 36%. A further consequence of the discontinuation of this support is the stagnation of Serbia’s dinarisation process. While the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) applies prudential incentives to stimulate dinar lending to SMEs, by reducing risk-weighted dinar exposures to SMEs through a deduction factor of 0.7619, thereby lowering capital requirements in line with the EU acquis, the share of dinar-denominated receivables in total corporate and household receivables remaining virtually unchanged, at 37.2% in the second quarter of 2022 (National Bank of Serbia, 2022[24]), compared to 37.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024 (National Bank of Serbia, 2025[25]) (Table 1.15).

Table 1.15. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 6, Sub-dimension 6.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Continue implementing the Dinarisation Strategy	The full stop on scalable credit guarantee schemes for SMEs in July 2022 has weakened incentives for local currency borrowing, thereby contributing to the stagnation of Serbia’s dinarisation process.	Limited	Refer to: Cluster 1, “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Sub-dimension 6.2: Non-bank finance

Serbia scored 3.16 on Sub-dimension 6.2, a performance stable with the 2022 assessment cycle (3.20).10 While recent initiatives to develop capital markets have contributed to improving the score, this progress was offset by the lack of a legal framework for alternative financing channels, such as business angel networks (BANs) and crowdfunding, as well as persistent gaps in the factoring legal framework.

Despite a relatively developed legal framework, established SMEs in Serbia have limited access to capital markets for financing investment. The Law on Capital Markets provides a regulatory framework for the creation of a dedicated SME section on the Belgrade Stock Exchange, “SME growth market”. This framework allows SMEs to issue shares and bonds using the simplified EU Growth Prospectus and benefit from lighter disclosure requirements for secondary issuances. However, the first SME bond issuance did not take place until June 2025, and no SME has been listed to date (Table 1.16). In line with its Capital Market Development Strategy 2021-2026, Serbia is cooperating with the World Bank on the Catalysing Long-Term Finance through Capital Markets project. Launched in 2023, the programme supports the implementation of the Capital Market Law through a set of complementary actions, including strengthening the administrative capacity of the Serbian Securities Commission and the Ministry of Finance and preparing the market for a corporate bond issuance in 2025. These efforts translated into a tangible milestone in April 2025, when Elixir Group completed an RSD 4.1 billion (Serbian dinars) (approximately EUR 35 million) green corporate bond primary sale on 8 April 2025, the first primary trading of a financial instrument on the Belgrade Stock Exchange in 13 years.

The legal framework for private equity and venture capital funds is relatively well-developed and was further strengthened by successive amendments to the Law on Alternative Investment Funds in 2024 and 2025. While the 2024 reform increased flexibility in portfolio management, the 2025 amendments further updated the regulatory framework and advanced alignment with the acquis. However, BANs are not governed by any legal framework, thereby limiting their capacity to support early-stage financing. In terms of policies supporting the development of private equity and venture capital, the Innovation Fund’s Serbia Ventures programmes (Serbia Ventures, Serbia Ventures Biotech and Serbia Ventures AI) have supported the establishment of three venture capital funds, two of which were operational as of February 2026, while one was still in the process of being established (Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia, 2025[26]). Expressed in 2021 EUR in purchasing power parity, available data on venture capital funds indicate that total invested volumes reached EUR 1.0 million in 2024, which remains far below the 2016 peak of EUR 134.2 million (Dealroom, 2025[27]), suggesting room for further development.

Crowdfunding in Serbia lacks a dedicated legal framework and is currently limited to local investors due to complex, costly regulations that deter foreign investors. To develop this activity, the NBS has been developing a draft Law on Crowdfunding since 2024, with the objective of aligning the future regime with the acquis. The drafting process has continued into 2025, but no clearly defined timetable for completion, adoption or implementation has been communicated (Table 1.16).11

The legal framework for leasing has experienced little change since the previous assessment cycle, except for the NBS’s October 2022 decision, which eased conditions for leasing farm equipment. In the meantime, leasing volumes reached 2.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 (National Bank of Serbia, 2025[28]), a level comparable to the EU average of 2.05% in 2023 (Leaseurope, 2024[29]). In November 2024, Serbia, in partnership with the European Union and the European Investment Bank, launched a EUR 160 million financial package to support SME investment. Implemented through credit lines and financial leasing provided by Banca Intesa and Intesa Leasing, this programme will contribute to further developing the leasing market in Serbia (European Investment Bank, 2025[30]).

While the legal framework for factoring is relatively well-developed, gaps exist, such as the absence of mechanisms to protect factoring companies against double financing of invoices and to assess the creditworthiness of debtors, which is particularly relevant for SMEs given their more limited financial records (Foreign Investors Council, 2024[31]). Both types of financing, however, continue to grow. Leasing volumes increased from 1.49% in 2013 (OECD, 2024[32]), reaching a level comparable to the EU average of 2.05% in 2023 (Leaseurope, 2024[29]). Factoring has expanded even more rapidly, rising from 1.35% of GDP in 2019 to 2.79% in 2023, although this remains well below the EU average of 11.9% (FCI, 2024[33]). The absence of active policy measures, such as tax incentives, support programmes, and SME-focused training, may constrain further development.

Table 1.16. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 6, Sub-dimension 6.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Showcase the opportunities of capital market finance	No SME has been listed on the Belgrade Stock Exchange during the last assessment cycle, thereby not providing an opportunity to showcase a successful initial public offering.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”
Introduce a comprehensive legal framework to facilitate the uptake of non-bank financial instruments	No progress has been made in creating a legal framework for microfinance institutions and crowdfunding platforms, leaving these two main non-bank financial instruments without dedicated legal frameworks in Serbia. Moreover, regulatory caveats regarding factoring persist, including the lack of mechanisms to protect factoring companies against double financing of invoices and to assess the creditworthiness of debtors.	Limited	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Sub-dimension 6.3: Financial inclusion

Serbia scored 2.37 in Sub-dimension 6.3, a score that was stable compared with the 2022 assessment (2.30).12 This performance reflects the relatively limited scope of programmes supporting entrepreneurs’ financial literacy and the absence of a legal framework for microfinance institutions.

Limited progress has been made in improving SMEs' financial literacy. The Financial Education Strategy 2016-2020 has expired, but no evaluation of its implementation has been conducted to identify shortcomings. Nor has a baseline assessment of SMEs’ financial education levels been conducted (Table 1.17). The new Financial Education Strategy for 2025-2030 has yet to be adopted, without an expected timeline. The NBS organises specialised workshops and educational forums for entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprises, as well as individuals preparing to start a business, delivered through its regional Financial Education Offices. While the trainings and materials address topics such as the safe use of electronic money and instant payments, they do not yet cover other important areas, including equity financing, alternative online financial solutions such as digital banks, crowdfunding platforms, and e-invoicing, or modules on sustainable finance.

The legal framework for microfinance has yet to be established, despite plans from the last assessment cycle to develop one for non-bank and non-deposit credit institutions (Table 1.17).

Table 1.17. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 6, Dimension 6.3

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status
Identify existing shortcomings in raising the financial awareness of SMEs	Neither has an evaluation of the implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Education Strategy (2016-2020) been carried out to identify shortcomings; nor has a baseline assessment of SMEs’ financial education level been conducted.	Limited

Dimension 7: Standards and technical regulations in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 7

Serbia received an overall score of 4.46 on Dimension 7 (Figure 1.12), a more or less stable score compared to that achieved in 2022 (4.44) and placing it among the strongest performers in the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) region, well above the regional average of 3.97. Dimension 7 remains Serbia’s highest scoring policy area, reflecting the relatively advanced nature of its quality infrastructure (QI) system and sustained alignment with key elements of the European Union (EU) acquis. Serbia’s performance reflects a QI system that remains strong in institutional terms, but where progress is increasingly driven by targeted improvements in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) access rather than by renewed strategic steering or further advances in legislative harmonisation. The slight increase in the overall score masks diverging developments across the three sub-dimensions. While overall co-ordination and general measures (Sub-dimension 7.1) and harmonisation with the acquis (Sub-dimension 7.2) have modestly declined, SMEs’ access to standardisation (Sub-dimension 7.3) has improved substantially.

Figure 1.12. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 7 and evolution since 2019

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Sub-dimension 7.1: Overall co-ordination and general measures

Serbia’s performance on Sub-dimension 7.1 remained broadly stable between assessment cycles, with a marginal decrease from 4.33 in 2022 to 4.27 in 2026, and continuing to score well above the WBT regional average of 3.86. This stability reflects a well-established institutional co-ordination framework and sustained strategic planning for acquis alignment, although persistent capacity constraints and fragmented SME-facing information systems continue to limit a further strengthening of overall co-ordination and general measures.

The Sector for Quality and Product Safety of the Ministry of Economy continues to act as the central co‑ordinator, while the Market Inspection Sector oversees market surveillance. Since 2022, Serbia has adopted a Strategic Plan for harmonisation of legislation with the acquis in the area of Free Movement of Goods (2024), building on the high-level 2021-2030 Industrial Policy Strategy’s emphasis on acquis alignment and co-ordinated implementation. Although implementation has advanced (e.g. additional bylaws, increased staff at the Accreditation Body of Serbia, and more conformity assessment bodies), capacity constraints persist, particularly in market surveillance staffing and IT resources, suggesting that the plan has not yet fully addressed resourcing gaps (European Commission, 2024[34]). Information for SMEs has also expanded: portals such as TEHNIS and the Chamber of Commerce’s CE-marking platform now provide guidance on technical regulations and EU market access (Table 1.18). However, actual uptake is not systematically tracked, and the absence of a single integrated contact point means that accessibility remains fragmented and some SMEs may struggle to navigate the system effectively.

Table 1.18. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendation for Dimension 7, Sub dimension 7.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status
Improve interlinkage of information about existing quality infrastructure for firms	TEHNIS and CE-marking portals have been expanded, and the Chamber of Commerce has continued to provide CE guidance. The Development Agency of Serbia has reinforced its export promotion programme and, together with the Ministry of Economy, introduced measures to improve product safety and quality. In addition, a digital transformation programme was launched in 2022 to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adapting to the EU Digital Single Market. However, these initiatives remain fragmented and a single entry point for SMEs has yet to be established.	Moderate

Sub-dimension 7.2: Harmonisation with the EU acquis

Serbia’s performance on Sub-dimension 7.2 has declined slightly from 4.70 in 2022 to 4.56 in 2026, but remains at a high level and well above the WBT regional average of 4.02, reflecting a strong starting position. This performance is underpinned by a generally high level of legislative alignment and institutional capacity, but also points to emerging implementation gaps linked to slower strategic renewal and uneven progress across components of the QI. While accreditation and metrology remain comparatively robust, weaker momentum in technical regulations, standardisation, conformity assessment and market surveillance has weighed on overall coherence in harmonisation with the acquis.

Serbia’s performance in technical regulations has remained relatively stable since the previous assessment. Bylaws adopted since 2022 have further aligned procedures with EU Regulations 765/2008 and 768/2008/EC. However, the delay in adopting a new Quality Infrastructure Strategy (the 2015-2020 strategy has expired and the new 2025-2030 strategy is still under preparation) undermines the coherence of reforms and weakens institutional co-ordination across QI bodies (Table 1.19). In practice, this means that resource planning for staffing, digitalisation and capacity building risks becoming fragmented, which could weaken Serbia’s readiness under Chapter 1 of EU negotiations. Moreover, Serbia has not yet adopted concrete programmes for the digitalisation of technical regulations, nor has such an approach been pursued systematically.

Serbia’s performance in standardisation has slightly declined since the previous assessment, reflecting a lack of strategic steering pending adoption of the Quality Infrastructure Strategy, and positive developments have not been sufficient to offset this. Despite this, the standardisation system remains very solid overall. For SMEs, the very high adoption rate of CEN-CENELEC standards, which increased from 99% in 2022 to 99.41% in 2025, continues to ensure that Serbian firms operate under requirements closely aligned with those of their EU peers. In parallel, the Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS) has continued to expand co‑operation with universities to strengthen awareness of standards among students and future professionals. However, the absence of regular evaluation of standardisation legislation and a digitalisation strategy lacking a clear budget and implementation timeline continue to weigh on overall performance in this thematic block.

Serbia’s performance in accreditation has slightly improved since the previous assessment. Serbian accreditation services are internationally recognised, as the Accreditation Body of Serbia is a full member of the European co-operation for Accreditation and the International Accreditation Forum, and is an EA Multilateral Agreement signatory in calibration, testing (including medical testing), inspection, certification of management systems, certification of products, certification of persons, and since 2022 in proficiency testing providers. The Accreditation Body of Serbia increased its staff from 41 in 2022 to 47 in 2025 and collaborates with more than 300 external assessors.

Serbia’s performance in conformity assessment has moderately declined since the previous assessment, reflecting some structural and implementation gaps. Although the number of conformity assessment bodies increased from 727 in 2022 to 787 in 2025, this expansion has not translated into effective coverage for priority sectors and SMEs continue to rely on foreign-notified bodies. In addition, the absence of regular evaluation mechanisms limits the ability to assess policy effectiveness and address shortcomings in conformity assessment.

Metrology performance has slightly improved since the previous assessment. While no legislative changes have been introduced since the last assessment, Serbia’s metrology system continues to be recognised by several international organisations and engages in joint activities with regional metrology bodies. Furthermore, the Directorate of Measures and Precious Metals has been strengthened through new hires, including additional permanently employed staff. However, if left unaddressed, irregular evaluation practices and a lack of strategic renewal may hinder Serbia’s progress.

Serbia’s market surveillance framework is undergoing legislative transition, which helps explain the observed decline in performance. The Law on Market Surveillance (Official Gazette No. 92/11), aligned with the former acquis (Regulation (EC) No 765/2008), remains in force; the draft law amending this framework has been prepared to align with EU Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and is planned for adoption in the fourth quarter of 2026. Staffing levels and IT resources within the market inspectorate have declined, constraining enforcement activities and delaying effective alignment with the acquis (European Commission, 2024[34]). Despite these capacity constraints, market surveillance activities have continued to progress through EU-funded projects, such as mystery shopping workshops, and through strengthened co-operation with regional customs authorities.

Table 1.19. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendation for Dimension 7, Sub dimension 7.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status
Update the Quality Infrastructure Strategy	The 2022 recommendation to renew the Quality Infrastructure Strategy has not yet been met, as the new 2025-2030 strategy still remains in draft form. Nevertheless, Serbia has adopted several bylaws under the 2021 Law on Technical Requirements and Conformity Assessment, further aligning with EU rules.	Limited

Sub-dimension 7.3: SMEs’ access to standardisation

Serbia’s performance has significantly improved on Sub-dimension 7.3, increasing from 3.59 in 2022 to 4.13 in 2026, and placing the economy well above the WBT regional average of 3.81. This improvement reflects strengthened awareness raising, expanded access to standards through digital tools and regional information centres, and the availability of financial support schemes for SMEs, although weaknesses in monitoring and evaluation continue to limit the ability to assess uptake and impact across sectors.

Awareness-raising activities have been strengthened through a combination of decentralised outreach, digital access and co-operation with business organisations. The ISS operates six regional information centres and provides free, online access to searchable standards in Serbian, complemented by translated promotional publications, practical guides and case studies available on its website. Engagement with the business community has intensified through roundtables held in six cities and formalised co-operation with the Serbian Employers’ Association, including webinars on different standards. Promotional efforts are further supported through co-operation with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, notably via joint publications on standards, while the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia has also developed its own promotional materials on the use of standards.

SME participation in standards development is supported through online consultations, while broader assistance has expanded through the Development Agency of Serbia’s export promotion programmes and workshops organised by the Ministry of Economy and the Chamber of Commerce. Training activities have increasingly covered digitalisation and preparedness for the EU Digital Single Market. Between 2020 and 2024, the ISS alone organised more than 190 training events, reaching between 400 and 700 SMEs per year, with the Chamber of Commerce’s 17 regional offices further extending outreach at the local level. Despite this broad coverage, systematic monitoring of SME participation and the impact of these activities remains limited.

Regarding financial support, SMEs can obtain reimbursements of conformity assessment and implementation costs at a rate of 40% or 60%, depending on the size of enterprise, and dedicated programmes cover the purchase of standards. However, monitoring and evaluation of these schemes remain weak, as data on the number of SMEs applying and the sectors benefiting the most is not systematically collected likely due to limited administrative resources and the lack of an established practice of systematic evaluation in SME support programmes (Table 1.20).

Table 1.20. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 7, Sub dimension 7.3

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status
Increase translation of standards and continue to improve SME committee participation	Serbia has maintained a very high adoption rate of European standards, but full-text translations remain limited. The Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS) has broadened awareness-raising efforts by organising more than 190 training events between 2020 and 2024, with 400-700 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) participants annually. It has also introduced new promotional publications and provided read-only access to draft standards online, enabling SMEs to give feedback during public enquiries. Despite these advances, there is still no dedicated SME committee within the ISS, and SME participation in technical committees remains limited.	Moderate

Dimension 8a: Enterprise skills in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 8a

Serbia received an overall score of 3.76 on Dimension 8a (Figure 1.13). Although this is virtually unchanged since the previous assessment cycle (3.66), Serbia remains the second-best performer in the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) region, exceeding the regional average of 3.44. However, despite this performance, Dimension 8a is still one of the economy’s mid-scoring areas, highlighting room for further progress, particularly in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) skills intelligence.

Figure 1.13. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 8a and evolution since 2019

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The stagnation in Serbia’s score since 2022 reflects divergent trends across thematic blocks, with slight improvements in implementation and monitoring and evaluation largely offset by the decline in planning and design. These gains suggest that existing mechanisms continue to operate and be assessed effectively; however, without parallel progress in strategic planning, their impact remains constrained and unlikely to drive broader systemic change.

Developments since 2022

The slight decline in the planning and design score reflects ongoing gaps in the development of a systematic approach to SME skills intelligence.

No single institution has been tasked with leading its development, resulting in fragmented responsibilities across multiple bodies (Table 1.21). This institutional fragmentation is exacerbated by the absence of a coherent strategic framework. No national policy outlines a systematic, economy-wide approach to assessing current skills supply and demand or forecasting future needs. Existing efforts remain ad hoc, often limited to individual sectors or population groups, and lack mechanisms for anticipating evolving labour market trends, although the National Employment Service’s recent reforms offer a promising avenue for strengthening forecasting capacities. Consequently, skills intelligence remains underutilised in shaping national policies or tailoring SME training offers. Furthermore, while demographic shifts pose clear implications for the future workforce, they are not consistently factored into forecasting exercises, leaving policy responses misaligned with long-term talent needs.

By contrast, notable progress was made in strengthening the policy framework for the social economy. A key milestone was the adoption of the Law on Social Entrepreneurship in 2022 – the first legal recognition of social enterprises in Serbia. By acknowledging social entrepreneurship as a distinct sector, this stand-alone law sends a strong political and policy signal that the social economy is not peripheral, but a legitimate component of national economic and social development.

Serbia continues to demonstrate relatively strong implementation capacity, particularly through sustained training offers by the National Employment Agency and the Development Agency of Serbia. At the same time, alignment with the skills demands arising from the green and digital transitions remains uneven. While support for digital skills has expanded in recent years, most notably through the Centre for Digital Transformation, provision related to the green transition remains more limited in scope, largely donor-driven and focused on narrow technical areas such as energy efficiency. Recent efforts to improve policy coherence, including the introduction of dedicated “Digitalisation” and “Green Economy” categories on the national entrepreneurship portal (preduzetnistvo.gov.rs/programi-podrske) represent a positive step in terms of visibility and structuring. Further progress is expected from 2026 with the introduction of two new business support services areas, “Green Economy” and “Social Entrepreneurship”, to be delivered through regional development agencies.13 However, the still limited number of active programmes under these categories as of January 2026 suggests that provision has yet to fully keep pace with SMEs’ evolving needs. A similar pattern is evident in the area of artificial intelligence (AI): although training focused on specialised AI skills has begun to emerge, offerings remain largely horizontal, with limited sector-specific tailoring for SMEs, which may not fully reflect the differentiated ways in which AI adoption is reshaping business models and workforce requirements.

These structural weaknesses are compounded by low engagement in adult learning initiatives: only 5.5% of adults aged 25-64 participated in training over the past four weeks (compared with 13.3% in the European Union), while enterprise-led training remains limited, with just 43.4% of small enterprises providing some form of employee training (Figure 1.14) (Government of Serbia, 2025[35]; Eurostat, 2024[36]).

Figure 1.14. Key statistic for Dimension 8a, Serbia

Sources: Eurostat (2024[36]); ILO (2022[37]).

Moreover, implementation capacity is undermined by a gap between policy design and delivery in the social entrepreneurship sector. While the adoption of the Law on Social Entrepreneurship marked important progress at the planning level, the absence of accompanying bylaws and implementing regulations has stalled the operationalisation of support structures, such as dedicated funding instruments and access to public procurement. This lack of follow-through likely discourages formal registration, as illustrated by the large disparity between the number of registered social enterprises (26 as of March 2026) and those estimated to be active in practice (approximately 500) (NALED, 2024[38]).

Evidence of monitoring and evaluation exists, but it is neither sufficiently comprehensive nor consolidated to offer a clear picture of the effectiveness of public training provision. Current efforts focus on a narrow set of indicators (e.g. participant numbers, feedback-based evaluation scores) that offer limited insight into actual outcomes or the long-term impact on SME performance, with data quality and consistency varying significantly across regions and between providers. While the Centre for Digital Transformation stands out as a positive example by conducting impact assessments of its digital training programmes, including planned outreach to 1 500 companies by 2026, such initiatives remain sporadic and lack widespread application. Furthermore, the lack of systematically collected and publicly available gender-disaggregated data (with key exceptions like the Development Agency and Innovation Fund) limits the design of inclusive, evidence-based policies (Table 1.21).

Table 1.21. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 8a

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Designate a body to lead the co‑ordination and development of an action plan for SME skills intelligence	No body has been designated to lead small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) skills intelligence. Moreover, there are no ongoing or planned efforts to develop a single strategic framework, nor has a national assessment of SME training needs or sectoral skills mismatches been conducted.	None	See Cluster 4: “Understanding and anticipating skills needs”
Expand existing training to include courses related to green and digital transition for SME employees	There has been a push to expand training opportunities related to the twin transitions; however, offerings remain limited in scope and scale. While the enterprise portal now includes designated sections for “Digitalisation” and “Green Economy” (as recommended in the previous assessment) available programmes are sparse.	Moderate	See Cluster 4: “Addressing skills needs of SMEs through adult education”
Develop quality assurance mechanisms to ensure quality delivery of SME training for both entrepreneurs and employees	Several planned reforms in the non-formal adult education system aim to strengthen quality assurance mechanisms. A three-year project launched in 2025 aims to expand the network of accredited training providers, while the Qualifications Agency is advancing efforts to standardise quality frameworks and digitalise provider accreditation procedures. However, the system remains fragmented, with too few providers meeting established standards, and practical implementation is still at an early stage.	Limited	See Cluster 4: “Addressing skills needs of SMEs through adult education”
Establish comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of all programmes related to SME skills, including a strong gender focus	Monitoring and evaluation of training programmes still lacks a comprehensive approach. Regarding gender focus, both the Development Agency and Innovation Fund collect gender-disaggregated statistics on training, but these are still not publicly available.	Limited	See Cluster 4: “Addressing skills needs of SMEs through adult education”

Dimension 8b: Innovation policy for SMEs in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 8b

Serbia received an overall score of 3.83 on Dimension 8b, reflecting its solid policy framework in this area (Figure 1.15). Building on a previously high score of 4.00, Serbia’s performance has slightly declined, but the economy remains the second-best performer in the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) region, surpassing the regional average of 3.27 and making Dimension 8b one of Serbia’s consistently strong areas.

Serbia’s performance has declined across two of the four sub-dimensions since the 2022 assessment, primarily due to methodological changes that increased the weight of monitoring and evaluating of the innovation policy framework in the scoring. Sub-dimension 1, supported by a solid strategic framework for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) innovation, and Sub-dimension 4, supported by a relatively advanced institutional infrastructure for business-academia co‑operation, are Serbia’s strongest areas. However, Sub‑dimension 2 remains the weakest, hampered by gaps in support for innovative SMEs, such as the limited technology extension services infrastructure for established SMEs.

Figure 1.15. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 8b and evolution since 2019

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Sub-dimension 8b.1: Policy framework for innovation

Performance on this sub-dimension has decreased, from 4.41 in 2022 to 4.01 in 2026. In addition to methodological changes that place a greater emphasis on monitoring and evaluation, this decline also reflects challenges in co-ordinating the policy framework for innovation.

Backed by a well-developed policy framework, Serbia supports SME innovation, with a strong emphasis on strengthening its start-up ecosystem and on linkages between SMEs and research institutions. The SME Development Strategy 2023-2027 provides broad-based support, aiming to increase the number of SMEs receiving assistance from the Innovation Fund from 1 479 in 2022 to 2 200 by 2027, a target already reached in July 2025 (2 177). This general effort is complemented by the more targeted Strategy for the Development of the Startup Ecosystem 2021-2025,14 which outlines a comprehensive set of measures to improve start-ups’ access to financing, reduce regulatory burdens and promote entrepreneurial skills in secondary education. Reinforcing these initiatives, the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development 2021-2025 ("The Power of Knowledge") directs the Innovation Fund’s activities toward joint industry-academia research projects and the support of businesses that have commercialised new or improved products.

Despite being broadly comprehensive and with a solid implementation record, Serbia’s innovation policy framework shows limitations in engaging all the relevant stakeholders, which may affect its effectiveness for SMEs. In particular, the Innovation Fund’s board composition, which is set through Government appointments under the Law on Innovation Activity, does not currently provide for a dedicated private-sector seat, which may constrain the extent to which programmes reflect businesses’ needs.

Co-ordination arrangements have generally functioned, but horizontal co-ordination remains complex and uneven in practice. The Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation leads overall policy design and implementation, while formal horizontal co-ordination is envisaged through two bodies: the National Council for Science and Technological Development and the Council for Encouraging the Development of the Digital Economy, Innovation, High-Tech Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation in Business. In practice, however, these councils’ contribution to cross-government co-ordination is not clearly evidenced over the assessment period. While their formal status is unclear, publicly available information does not indicate any recent meetings, outputs, or follow-up actions during the current cycle, suggesting that their coordinating and advisory roles have been limited in recent years and that the overall level of cross-government coordination remains low (Table 1.22).

The innovation policy framework is regularly monitored through biannual innovation surveys conducted by Serbia’s statistical office, but there is currently no independent evaluation or review of the innovation strategy in place, nor are there any impact studies on key indicators, such as SME productivity. The only exception concerns the Innovation Fund, whose programmes undergo annual audits, regular project-level assessments and comprehensive impact studies conducted by independent evaluators, the most recent of which were in 2020 and 2024. Additionally, the Institute of Economic Sciences is developing a national composite index to facilitate the measurement of key dimensions of Serbia’s start-up and innovation ecosystem; however, no timeline has been provided for the release of this new monitoring tool.

Table 1.22. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendation for Dimension 8b, Sub-dimension 8b.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status
Strengthen co-ordination in design and implementation oversight of innovation policy	Serbia’s innovation policy framework remains sophisticated and multi-layered. Headed by the Prime Minister, the Council for Encouraging the Development of the Digital Economy, Innovation, High-tech Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation’s mandate is broad, covering the digital economy, innovation or high-tech entrepreneurship, but only one session has been held since its formation in 2021, and no further meetings or documented activities or achievements have been recorded since then.	Limited
Incorporate a strong focus on innovation into the new Strategy for the Development of Start-up Ecosystems	The Strategy for the Development of the Startup Ecosystem of the Republic of Serbia (2021-2025) encompasses a broad range of policy measures designed to support start‑ups’ innovation activities in Serbia. The planned actions include introducing entrepreneurship in secondary education, improving infrastructure and programme support for start-ups, facilitating access to finance, and reducing the regulatory burden on start-ups.	Strong

Sub-dimension 8b.2: Government institutional support services for innovative SMEs

Serbia scored 3.25 on Sub-dimension 8b.2, a broadly stable score relative to its score in 2022 (3.40). This primarily reflects persisting weaknesses in the monitoring and evaluation of government institutional support services for innovation as well as gaps in institutional support for businesses.

The Serbian government continues to provide institutional support for innovative SMEs, with a strong focus on start‑ups. The economy has developed a network of 19 business incubators and 10 accelerators, mainly located in Belgrade and in major university centres such as Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac, with a strong focus on the digital economy. In practice, several high-visibility ecosystem actors are primarily oriented toward digital and technology ventures: for example, Startit explicitly positions itself as a platform for IT, entrepreneurship and new technologies, and ICT Hub’s activities include investment in early-stage tech start-ups. In line with the Strategy for the Development of the Startup Ecosystem 2021-2025, Serbia has further strengthened its start-up ecosystem by establishing 16 additional regional start-up centres to decentralise innovation support across less developed regions, bringing the total to 22. Beyond the expansion of physical support infrastructure, Serbia’s start-up support ecosystem has also gained international recognition, with the Innovation Fund’s Katapult accelerator ranked 48th among Europe’s leading start-up hubs in 2026 (EU in Serbia, 2026[39]). While Serbia has developed a solid infrastructure of incubators and regional start-up centres, regular monitoring and impact assessments of their effectiveness in fostering innovation are not yet systematic. Such evaluations are currently conducted mainly for programmes funded by the Innovation Fund, suggesting there is room to further strengthen understanding of the broader ecosystem’s impact on business innovation.

As in the previous assessment cycle, the government’s institutional support for SME innovation remains primarily limited to incubators, accelerators and start-up centres. Serbia has not yet developed comprehensive technology extension services, as the only existing infrastructure in this area, the Center for Digital Transformation, focuses solely on digital innovation, leaving a gap in broader innovation support services for established SMEs.

Sub-dimension 8b.3: Government financial support for innovative SMEs

Serbia scored 3.87 on Sub-dimension 8b.3, which is in line with the 2022 assessment (3.85). This trend primarily highlights inefficiencies in translating support into tangible innovation outcomes for SMEs and the lack of monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of government financial indirect support for innovative SMEs.

The Innovation Fund provides scalable financial support for SMEs’ innovation activities, managing an annual budget of EUR 34.0 million in 2024 (Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia, 2025[40]). The Innovation Fund’s programmes are clearly distinct from the Science Fund’s support, which focuses on research institutes and promotes collaboration between these institutes and industry (Table 1.23). Overall, the Innovation Fund’s offer is comprehensive; however, dedicated support for SMEs’ green innovation remains limited. To address this gap, the Innovation Fund is preparing an EU-funded Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance initiative to establish a dedicated green grant programme for the private sector, supporting green and digital innovations, with implementation expected to start in late 2026 or early 2027 (European Union, 2024[41]).

Despite the Innovation Fund’s scale, SMEs’ business expenditure on research and development (BERD) in Serbia is declining. SMEs’ BERD amounted to EUR 141.4 million in 2023, broadly unchanged in nominal terms from 2019 (EUR 138.7 million), but representing a real-term drop of more than 30% over the period. Concurrently, SMEs’ share of total BERD has declined from 86.0% in 2019 to 49.3% in 2023 (Eurostat, 2025[42]), representing the lowest level since 2015 (44.1%). These trends may indicate inefficiencies in how existing financial support translates into tangible innovation outcomes. While these trends are shaped by multiple factors, they suggest that existing support may not translate into higher SME BERD. In this context, implementation frictions reported by Innovation Fund beneficiaries, particularly administrative bottlenecks in approval procedures and resulting delays in grant disbursement (Particip GmbH, 2024[43]), may have dampened take-up and reduced the Fund’s ability to stimulate additional SME BERD, especially among start-ups and early-stage SMEs with limited liquidity. Moreover, the lack of promotion of soft innovation measures, such as intellectual property rights (IPR) services, on the Innovation Fund’s platform may constrain its overall effectiveness, as these services can complement existing financial assistance.

While direct financial support remains the primary focus of Serbia’s innovation support approach, businesses can also benefit from generous indirect support schemes to fund their research and development (R&D) efforts.15 The Law on Corporate Income Tax allows companies to reduce their taxable income by twice the amount of eligible R&D expenses, while the Personal Income Tax Act and the Act on Contributions for Mandatory Social Insurance grant employers, including start-ups, exemptions covering 70% of the salary tax and 100% of pension and disability insurance contributions for employees directly engaged in R&D. In addition, the IP Box regime offers a preferential corporate income tax rate of 3% on revenues derived from IP developed in Serbia.16 Overall, these measures are largely horizontal instruments and are not specifically tailored to create more favourable conditions for SMEs, except for start-ups.17 In practice, they are used more frequently by ICT and start-up firms that are more familiar with IP management and have the internal capacity to document and substantiate qualifying R&D activities, whereas many traditional SMEs face higher administrative and technical barriers to accessing such measures. Despite these various indirect support schemes, Serbia does not conduct regular monitoring or impact assessments of this indirect support for innovation, leaving its effectiveness unknown.

Table 1.23. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendation for Dimension 8b, Sub-dimension 8b.3

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status
Further align the focus of the Innovation Fund and Science Fund to the strategic objectives of the innovation framework	The programmes offered by Serbia’s Innovation Fund and Science Fund are complementary in their focus and objectives. The Innovation Fund’s primary focus is supporting business innovation by providing funding and other support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups. In contrast, the Science Fund focuses on research institutes and fostering co‑operation between these institutes and industry.	Strong
Raise awareness about soft measures to incentivise innovation through the platform of the Innovation Fund and via targeted information campaigns in collaboration with business associations	The Innovation Fund’s support is primarily delivered through financial instruments, and the platform provides limited visibility on broader “soft” innovation services such as intellectual property support, structured networking between SMEs and research institutions, or stand-alone training in entrepreneurial skills.	Limited

Sub-dimension 8b.4: SME and research institution collaboration and technology transfer

Serbia scored 4.00 on Sub-dimension 8b.4, representing a slight improvement from its 2022 score of 3.91. This reveals the persistent challenges in monitoring and evaluating existing institutional support for business-academia co-operation and the lack of procedural simplifications in implementing IPR legislation for SMEs, despite recent advancements.

Serbia has established a well-developed system to support collaboration between SMEs and research institutions, notably through innovation vouchers funded by the Innovation Fund, from which around 150 SMEs benefit each year, prioritising key sectors identified in the Smart Specialisation Strategy 2020-2027. Serbia has also built a substantial institutional infrastructure for innovation, comprising 5 science and technology parks, 78 technology offices, 24 technology transfer offices, and 16 competence centres, further strengthened by the creation of the BIO4 Campus and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence. However, publicly available evidence provides limited visibility of how systematically individual technology transfer structures broker collaboration between researchers and existing SMEs (as distinct from IP management and research commercialisation activities), suggesting scope to strengthen monitoring and impact assessment of the institutional support framework’s performance. Existing evaluations of the Innovation Fund’s Collaborative Grant Scheme indicate that the programme has been effective in fostering partnerships between larger academic institutions and enterprises, while the more systematic engagement of smaller research organisations remains a key challenge (Particip GmbH, 2024[43]). Partly reflecting the central role of prominent academic institutions in the Serbian innovation landscape, BERD tends to be extremely concentrated on scientific and technical activities, with 76.2% of total BERD in 2023 (Figure 1.16). Despite the Smart Specialisation Strategy 2020-2027, which aims to promote innovation in sectors such as manufacturing, ICT, agriculture and creative industries, BERD in these sectors remains marginal in Serbia.

Figure 1.16. Key statistics for Dimension 8b: Three-quarters of business expenditure on research and development is concentrated on scientific and technical activities in Serbia

Notes: Data for North Macedonia refer to 2022. Data for the EU-27 refer to 2021. The OECD calculates the EU-27 average and excludes the Netherlands due to data availability issues.

Source: Eurostat (2025[42]).

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Lastly, Serbia’s intellectual property legislation is largely consistent with the EU acquis, with recommendations for further alignment set out in (European Commission, 2025[44]). Efforts continue to improve IPR implementation, with the Intellectual Property Office providing regulatory guidance and support to SMEs through its Education and Information Centre. However, Serbia’s IPR legislation does not provide procedural simplifications or fast-track procedures specifically for SMEs, thereby imposing an administrative burden on smaller businesses seeking to protect their IPR.

Dimension 9: SMEs in a green economy in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 9

Serbia scored 3.07 on Dimension 9 (Figure 1.17), up from a score of 2.53 in the previous cycle. This places Serbia as the third-highest performer in this dimension in the Western Balkan and Türkiye (WBT) region, closely aligned with the regional average of 3.16. However, despite this progress, Dimension 9 remains one of the economy’s lowest-scoring areas, highlighting the need to further strengthen policy measures in this area.

Figure 1.17. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 9 and evolution since 2019

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The rise in Serbia’s overall score since 2022 reflects progress in moving from strategic planning to more effective implementation. Most notable gains come from implementing measures within the framework for greening policies focussed on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and from better planning and design of greening incentives and instruments. Decreases in planning and design, as well as in monitoring and evaluation, in the first sub-dimension are partly explained by methodological adjustments, including a new emphasis on measures supporting SME greening beyond climate change mitigation.

Sub-dimension 9.1: Framework for greening policies targeting SMEs

Performance in this sub-dimension has improved, rising from 2.80 in 2022 to 3.39 in 2026. However, performance in planning and design declined, largely due to the application of a new methodology with more granular assessment criteria (see Methodology), while implementation strengthened, and monitoring and evaluation components remain weak.

Since 2022, Serbia has made progress in operationalising SME greening through sound policy design and implementation (Table 1.24). Key strategic documents, such as the Low-Carbon Development Strategy 2023-2030, the Draft Energy Sector Development Strategy to 2040, and the 2025 Draft for a Just Transition Action Plan, integrate SME support more clearly into broader transition efforts, including emissions reduction, energy transition, and diversification in carbon-intensive industries. Alongside the SME Strategy 2023-2027 that includes a strong greening objective, this reflects growing policy coherence. However, there is no clear evidence of consultation with private-sector stakeholders, and climate change adaptation is not yet addressed through an SME lens.

Table 1.24. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 9, Sub-dimension 9.1

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Ensure effective implementation of SME greening measures through cross-sectoral co-ordination	Implementation of SME greening measures has shown clear improvement, driven by clearer budgeting and strengthened capacities. A key institutional gap, the absence of a central co-ordinating body, is addressed by assigning primary responsibility to the Ministry of Economy, working closely with the Ministry of Environment on regulatory aspects and co-ordinating with the Chamber of Commerce to improve SME outreach. The operational effectiveness of regional development agencies, which provide standardised greening guidance to SMEs, will also be enhanced through targeted training of advisory staff, delivered by the Ministry of Economy in collaboration with the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).	Strong	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”

Crucially, implementation has accelerated: by the end of the SME Strategy Action Plan 2023-2024, 80% of greening-related actions were either completed or well advanced, and 40% of Industrial Policy Action Plan 2024-2025 measures were already implemented as of April 2025. The adoption of the Roadmap for a Green Economy (see Box 1.3) marks a key milestone, offering a data-driven foundation based on input from 350 micro- and SMEs (MSMEs).

However, monitoring and evaluation systems have made limited progress since 2022, remaining fragmented and lacking a systemic approach to assess how many businesses are being supported or the effectiveness of strategic interventions.

Box 1.3. Spotlight: A roadmap to better help Serbian SMEs align with the Green Agenda

Policy context

Despite structural challenges, the Serbian government has shown a consistent commitment to sustainable development by adopting various strategies to green and strengthen business sector resilience since 2022. However, a clear understanding of actionable policy packages, those that balance costs, drive innovation, and attract investment, has been lacking. In response, the Roadmap for a Green Economy in Serbia, finalised in 2025 with support from GIZ, offers practical guidance to SMEs on adopting more sustainable business models.

Co-creation with stakeholders

The roadmap offers evidence-based insights into micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) awareness, existing green practices, sector-specific challenges, and opportunities, aiming to inform policymaking and strengthen support measures. Developed through a multidimensional methodology, the process combined desk research with qualitative and quantitative data. The methodological approach included a review of national and international frameworks, 23 expert interviews (including government and business associations), 19 focus groups across ten cities with 153 firms, and a survey of over 350 MSMEs from key sectors.

Policy impact

Based on this analysis, the roadmap provides targeted policy recommendations¹ and practical guidance to help decision makers design more effective incentives and strategic measures that facilitate the green transition of Serbian MSMEs. It also offers a foundation of evidence that can inform the development of future policies and programmes aimed at sustainable economic transformation.

1. Selected relevant recommendations include: 1) develop a transparent system of monitoring and evaluating the effects of measures in order to improve the application of the law to boost confidence of SMEs in green investments; 2) increase staff capacity in Serbia’s public electricity utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) for processing requests and improve communication between EPS and businesses; 3) create subsidies for businesses that invest in training their employees in green skills; 4) reactivate the Green Fund to boost the environmental protection financing system; 5) work on raising awareness among SMEs from the processing industry sector through information activities and promotion of successful business examples.

Source: Ministry of Economy (2025[45]).

Sub-dimension 9.2: Incentives and instruments for SME sustainability

Serbia scored 2.81 on Sub-dimension 9.2 on incentives and instruments for SME sustainability, up from 2.30 in 2022. The score reflects strengthening of incentive planning and design, underpinned by national strategies that prioritise SME sustainability and strengthened monitoring mechanisms. However, implementation improved only modestly, remaining largely donor-led.

Since 2022, Serbia has made some progress in aligning its incentive and regulatory framework with SME greening goals, though efforts remain fragmented and limited in scale. The SME Strategy 2023-2027 outlines clear priorities for strengthening both financial and non-financial instruments, yet implementation has been uneven and often lacks measurable targets.

Regulatory advancements include amendments to the Renewable Energy Law in April 2023, which simplified access to auctions and permitting for small-scale projects and prosumers. However, no new developments were reported on performance standards or best available technologies, and green public procurement18 remains underutilised as a lever for SME participation in the green economy, as amendments to the Public Procurement Law, introducing principles of environmental protection, only apply since January in 2024. Some progress was made on clarifying environmental state aid in the 2025 Draft Horizontal State Aid Regulation, which better defines SME eligibility for tax breaks, subsidised loans, and interest relief. Donor-led initiatives also provided training, such as those by SGS Serbia and the World Bank,19 on aligning SMEs with EU voluntary reporting standards. Nonetheless, support for market-based tools like green certifications or award schemes remains limited or low-scale.

Financial incentives specific to greening are still mostly donor-driven, with only a few government-backed programmes, such as the 2024-2029 Support Programme for SMEs for the Purchase of Equipment, touching on sustainability, though not exclusively focussed on green outcomes (Table 1.25). Going forward, however, the government plans to complement donor funding with national budget resources, alongside support from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance III, to strengthen the Purchase of Equipment Programme’s green component. Monitoring has improved compared to the previous cycle; however, independent review and evaluation of instruments have not yet been established.

Table 1.25. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendations for Dimension 9, Sub-dimension 9.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Consider introducing regulatory instruments into the SME greening policy mix	Regulatory instruments have only slightly advanced with amendments to the Renewable Energy Law in 2023, streamlining access for SMEs. However, broader use of performance standards, green public procurement, and market-based tools remains underdeveloped, and regulatory support for SME greening continues to lack scale and co‑ordination.	Limited	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”
Enhance financial support to SME greening	Since 2022, financial support for SME greening in Serbia has remained limited. The Green Fund, once seen as a key opportunity, has not reappeared in the budget since its removal in 2021, with no transparency on its future. While some donor-led funding has been provided, the scale of green support from core institutions such as the Ministry of Economy remains uncertain. Based on reported programmes, including the Support Programme for SMEs for the Purchase of Equipment (2024-2029), the Development Chance Programme (2024-2027), and measures under the SME Strategy, the Ministry of Economy indicates that a total of 251 SMEs benefitted from greening-related support between the previous assessment and 2024. However, these figures cannot be disaggregated to determine the specific scope or type of green investments supported. National authorities also report efforts to promote the use of environmental management systems, including support for ISO 14001 certification and awareness-raising campaigns. However, concrete outcomes of these initiatives have not been documented.	Limited	See Cluster 2: “Fostering SME sustainability and resilience”

Dimension 10: Internationalisation of SMEs in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 10

Serbia received an overall score of 3.79 on Dimension 10, a moderate decline in performance in this area (Figure 1.18). Compared with its previous score of 4.00, the result points to a slight adjustment rather than a major shift, with Serbia’s performance remaining close to the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) regional average of 3.76. Dimension 10 scores above several weaker performing dimensions, while remaining below Serbia’s highest scoring ones, suggesting that small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) internationalisation continues to be one of Serbia’s relevant areas of focus.

Figure 1.18. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 10 and evolution since 2019

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Serbia’s 2026 score reflects a gradual strategic evolution toward a more structured and co-ordinated approach to SME internationalisation, with progress advancing at different speeds across export promotion, integration into global value chains (GVCs) and digital trade readiness. With the adoption of the 2023-2027 SME Development Strategy, SME internationalisation has been established as a cross-cutting policy objective, supported by dedicated funding, performance targets and growing alignment across implementing institutions. Early results from the first half of the strategy’s duration point to positive momentum, as policy instruments have been introduced or expanded, institutional co-ordination has improved, and the uptake of some programmes has exceeded the initial targets. At the same time, outcomes are uneven across the sub-dimensions. In particular, limited implementation of measures to support SME engagement in e-commerce, including the absence of government-led programmes to support adoption, effective use and cross-border e-commerce, continues to weigh on digital trade readiness. Despite ongoing legal convergence with the European Union (EU), gaps in targeted instruments, institutional leadership and structured stakeholder engagement constrain the coherence and operational focus of Serbia’s e-commerce policy, contributing to weaker performance in this area.

Sub-dimension 10.1: Export promotion

Performance on this sub-dimension has remained broadly stable, increasing slightly from 4.31 in 2022 to 4.38 in 2026, reflecting incremental gains across planning and design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation (Figure 1.18). Improvements have been driven by stronger strategic anchoring of SME internationalisation, an expanded and well-resourced export support portfolio, and more structured monitoring arrangements.

Since 2022, Serbia has strengthened the strategic integration of SME internationalisation through the SME Development Strategy 2023-2027, the Industrial Policy Strategy 2021-203020 and the Smart Specialisation Strategy 2020-2027, which collectively feature SME export readiness as a policy priority. The SME Development Strategy sets a target of increasing SME exports to RSD 1.27 trillion (EUR 10.8 billion) by 2027, backed by annual SME budget allocations of RSD 37 billion (EUR 314 million). While its mandate remains unchanged, the Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) continues to serve as the central implementing body, allocating 57% of its SME support budget and 14 staff members to export-related programmes (Development Agency of Serbia (RAS), 2025[46]), making it the best staffed export promotion agency in the Western Balkans (OECD, 2024[32]).

Serbia’s export support portfolio has also expanded significantly since 2022, with a stronger focus on SME export readiness. Delivered by RAS in co-operation with the Ministry of Economy and the Export Credit and Insurance Agency, the portfolio combines a broader suite of financial and non-financial instruments supporting equipment procurement, market entry, participation in international trade fairs and training aligned with EU standards. Notably, the 2024 Export Promotion Programme,21 implemented through public calls and planned to continue in 2025, supported 135 SMEs with RSD 634 million (EUR 5.4 million) in 2024, reaching 105% of the implementation target. Participation-based measures, such as international fairs, showed even stronger uptake, reaching 173% of the planned target, with 319 SME participations across 20 international fairs (Development Agency of Serbia (RAS), 2025[46]). The programme has also broadened its sectoral scope22 and a new tailored scheme is being developed to extend support more directly to smaller exporters, including micro and small enterprises. Digital and compliance tools have been further expanded, including support via the Responsible Business Hub (Box 1.4). These instruments are complemented by self-assessment tools, diagnostics and partnership-building initiatives supported by RAS and the Chamber of Commerce. Serbia’s export support measures have contributed to stronger overall SME export performance, but participation remains uneven. Between 2019 and 2023, total SME export value increased by 57%, reaching RSD 1.2 trillion (EUR 10.2 billion), while the number of exporting SMEs grew only marginally from 15 599 to 16 394 (Government of Serbia, 2025[47]). This suggests that export growth has been mainly driven by established and mid-sized firms, with limited reach to smaller or less experienced exporters. As a result, average export value per firm rose sharply, but broader SME engagement in trade has not followed at the same pace. Serbia’s SME export performance has also declined, from 120.8 in 2014-2016 to 96.1 in 2020-2023, highlighting lagging competitiveness relative to its EU peers (OECD, 2025[48]).

Monitoring and evaluation practices are structurally mature in Serbia, with regular reporting on RAS activities and export promotion programmes and agency activities, complemented by beneficiary feedback. Public calls related to specific programmes set specific indicators, such as new products exported, markets entered, contracts with foreign buyers, and the share of firms achieving over 20% revenue or export growth, and beneficiaries are monitored for at least three years after support. While annual evaluations are conducted, they remain internal, and the system, though well‑structured, continues to be output-focused and lacks independent assessments to guide programme adjustments.

Box 1.4. Spotlight: Institutional support for SME export readiness: The Responsible Business Hub

Launched in September 2023 by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia with backing from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Responsible Business Hub (RBH) was established in response to new and rising regulatory pressures from the European Union (e.g. the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive) and mechanisms like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Its goal has been ambitious: to equip Serbian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the skills, tools and advisory support needed to align with human rights, environmental standards and sustainability norms strengthening their competitiveness in export markets and enhancing overall business resilience.

The RBH works as a one-stop consultative hub for SMEs, offering workshops; individual mentoring; consulting; advisory support; and training on sustainability, carbon management and regulatory compliance. The RBH has established a pool of over 20 trained sustainability and carbon management consultants, with expansion underway for expertise in ESG (environment, social, governance) and human rights and environmental due diligence. It trained over 200 company representatives in CBAM reporting during its first year. The RBH’s visibility is rising: representatives from the EU Delegation, the German embassy, regulatory bodies and the media have participated in key events, cementing the RBH’s role in Serbia’s landscape of sustainable business practices (Responsible Business Hub, 2023[49]; 2024[50]).

In its relatively brief first year, the RBH has moved beyond mere planning to active engagement: building awareness among SMEs, developing local consultancy capacity, piloting tools for compliance, and becoming an institutional anchor in Serbia’s push toward sustainability. These efforts are tangibly helping Serbian firms prepare for new regulatory regimes (CBAM, CSDDD, etc.), improving their risk management and export credentials. While full outcomes in terms of export growth, profitability increases or widespread implementation are still emerging, the RBH is setting a precedent for how Serbia can weave sustainability into SME support – not as an afterthought, but as a core component of competitiveness.

Sources: Responsible Business Hub (2023[49]; 2024[50]).

Sub-dimension 10.2: Integration of SMEs into global value chains

Performance in this sub-dimension declined slightly from 3.94 in 2022 to 3.67 in 2026, indicating that while Serbia has made progress in embedding SME supplier upgrading into its strategic framework, gaps in implementation and monitoring and evaluation remain (Figure 1.18).

GVC integration has been formalised through the SME Development Strategy 2023-2027 and its Action Plan 2023-2024, complemented by the Industrial Policy Strategy 2021-2030 and the Smart Specialisation Strategy 2020-2027 elevating “integration of SMEs into global supply chains” to a key performance indicator (Government of Serbia, 2024[51]). Since the last assessment, Serbia has introduced new support measures that combine financial instruments (grants and subsidies) with capacity building (skills development, market access and standards upgrading) to reinforce the design of GVC support through a multi-year Supplier Development Programme (SDP) and a suite of complementary measures (Table 1.26). The Action Plan earmarks budgeted resources for supplier upgrading, export promotion and certification, alongside the Export Credit and Insurance Agency’s export insurance, Enterprise Europe Network services, and entrepreneurship-portal upgrades. Sectoral priorities including automotive, machinery and equipment, electrical and electronic systems, plastics, metals, and furniture and home appliances mirror Serbia’s foreign direct investment profile. The SDP was renewed through public calls in 2023 (RSD 270 million; EUR 2.3 million) and 2024 (RSD 180 million; EUR 1.5 million), with eligibility expanded to include automation and robotics, quality control equipment, enterprise resource planning systems, and consulting for standards such as International Automotive Task Force (IATF), and International Railway Industry Standard (IRIS). While institutional roles are clearly defined (Ministry of Economy, RAS, the Export Credit and Insurance Agency), the planned RAS-led supplier database and digital platform has yet to be operationalised, with the privately run SME HUB (see Dimension 5a: Business support services for SMEs in Serbia) acting as an interim tool.

Uptake of available programmes has been gradual but measurable. In 2024, the certification programme supported 195 SMEs, contracting RSD 82.85 million and reimbursing 161 firms. The 2023 SDP call received 26 applications, 20 of which were approved and 19 contracts signed following diagnostics. Public calls are fully digitalised and outreach is conducted through RAS, regional development agencies and chambers of commerce. These efforts have translated into tangible linkages: 19 SMEs entered multinational enterprise supply chains in 2023, rising to 29 in 2024. However, outcomes remain concentrated in a small number of sectors and anchor investors (Government of Serbia, 2025[52]). Moreover, structural barriers further constrain delivery. SMEs face high costs for compliance with international quality, environmental and regulatory requirements such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO), IATF and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction (REACH), while certification and advisory support remains largely donor-driven, without integration into national financing schemes. Moreover, despite record foreign direct investment inflows of EUR 4.6 billion in 2024, no formal mechanisms incentivise foreign investors to localise procurement, limiting spillover effects for SME supplier upgrading.

With regards to monitoring and evaluation, annual implementation reports issued by RAS and the Ministry of Economy track budget execution and beneficiary counts but lack supplier mapping or sectoral disaggregation. No independent evaluation of the SDP has been conducted, while data collected are for internal use only, limiting the ability to assess impact or inform evidence-based adjustments.

Table 1.26. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendation for Dimension 10, Sub‑dimension 10.2

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Intensify capacity building and advisory support for SMEs that aim to export and integrate into global value chains	Serbia has intensified efforts to integrate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into global value chains and boost exports through a combination of financial assistance and capacity-building measures. Key initiatives include the Programme to Support Companies for Entering Multinational Supplier Chains, the Programme to Support Companies in Adopting International Value Chain Business Principles, the SME HUB, and the Development Agency of Serbia’s Export Promotion and Internationalisation Programmes (2023-2025), which together provide training, advisory services, market intelligence and trade fair support. Anchored in the SME Strategy 2023-2027 and the Industrial Policy Strategy 2021-2030, these measures strengthen SME competitiveness, though further progress is needed in digitalisation and resilience-oriented support.	Strong	See Cluster 1: “Creating an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs”

Sub-dimension 10.3: Promoting the use of e-commerce

Serbia’s performance on Sub-dimension 10.3 has declined from 3.20 in 2022 to 2.36 in 2026 (Figure 1.18). This decrease reflects stagnation in policy development and limited progress in monitoring and evaluation, despite the existence of some support initiatives for SMEs. While the legal framework remains broadly aligned with EU standards, the absence of new SME-specific measures and weak institutional follow-up have limited policy impact and contributed to the downward trend.

Serbia’s policy planning and design for SME participation in e-commerce remain constrained by the absence of a coherent strategic vision and dedicated institutional arrangements. While the legal framework is relatively strong, anchored in the Law on Electronic Commerce, the Law on Electronic Communications, and the Law on Electronic Document and Trust Services, and further aligned with EU standards through recent amendments, including transposition of the EU Revised Payment Services Directive and strengthened consumer-protection rules, it remains largely generic in nature. These legal provisions regulate digital markets but are not accompanied by SME-specific provisions, action plans or delivery mechanisms that would translate regulatory alignment into practical support for small businesses. Moreover, no dedicated body has been tasked with co‑ordinating SME e-commerce policy, and structured mechanisms for involving SMEs in policy design are lacking. As a result, despite continued legal convergence with the European Union, the absence of targeted instruments, institutional leadership and stakeholder engagement weakens the strategic and operational orientation of Serbia’s e-commerce policy and contributes to the observed decline in performance.

Implementation efforts to support SME engagement in e-commerce remain limited, with no government-led programmes in place to assist SMEs in adopting and effectively leveraging e-commerce, including for cross‑border activities. In addition, no dedicated public body has been designated to oversee or co-ordinate implementation in this area. While training and advisory activities have been extended through the Digital Serbia Initiative, which continues to deliver workshops on digital marketing and online platforms for SMEs (DSI, 2025[53]), most initiatives remain fragmented and externally driven. EU-funded projects under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance framework, including EU4 Independent Media, have incorporated basic e-commerce components into institutional support and produced practical guidance for e-traders, while Serbia’s participation in the Central European Free Trade Agreement’s E-commerce for All platform supports regional co-operation on payment and delivery challenges. The E-Commerce Association of Serbia (ECEA), established in 2018 and bringing together more than 100 members including platforms, logistics providers and payment companies, provides training, annual conferences and market analysis and acts as an interlocutor with public authorities. Blended finance instruments such as the EBRD's Go Digital in the Western Balkans initiative also offer technical assistance and grants that SMEs may use for digital upgrades, including e-commerce solutions. However, implementation continues to rely largely on donor-funded programmes, with no dedicated public budget, financial incentives or large-scale government schemes to support SME onboarding to online platforms or marketplace integration.

Monitoring and evaluation practices remain underdeveloped. Serbia does not operate a systematic framework to track SME engagement in e-commerce or to assess the effectiveness of related policy measures. Only two core indicators are currently collected – the share of SMEs engaged in e-commerce and revenues generated from online sales – providing limited insight into adoption patterns across firm size and sector. In addition, there are no structured mechanisms for gathering SME feedback on existing or missing financial and non‑financial support measures, nor regular evaluations of e-commerce related policies. As a result, policy adjustments are only weakly evidence-based and lessons from implementation are not systematically incorporated into subsequent policy cycles.

Table 1.27. Serbia’s implementation of the SME Policy Index’s 2022 recommendation for Dimension 10, Sub‑dimension 10.3

2022 recommendation	Main developments during the assessment period	Progress status	Way forward
Build trust among SMEs in e‑commerce and offer capacity building for digitising their sales channels	There has been a moderate expansion of efforts to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) participation in e-commerce through a combination of awareness-raising, advisory and capacity-building measures. With the support of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance project EU Support for the Internal Market, the government delivers educational and mentoring workshops for SMEs, complemented by advisory and consulting sessions designed to help firms navigate the digital marketplace. Additional activities include awareness campaigns and targeted initiatives to enhance logistics capabilities and promote the use of digital payment solutions, thereby addressing some of the structural bottlenecks to wider e-commerce adoption. While these measures mark an important step toward building SME readiness, stronger integration with financial support instruments and follow-up mechanisms to ensure sustained uptake would increase their impact.	Moderate	See Cluster 3: “Digital Transformation of SMEs”

Dimension 11: Digital transformation of SMEs in Serbia

Overview of Serbia’s performance on Dimension 11

Serbia received an overall score of 3.38 on the new Dimension 11 (Figure 1.19), placing it above the Western Balkans and Türkiye (WBT) regional average of 3.00 and among the stronger performing economies in the area of SME digital transformation.

Figure 1.19. Overview of Serbia’s score on Dimension 11, 2026

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Across the three sub-dimensions, performance points to a relatively solid strategic and institutional basis, combined with uneven translation into SME-oriented instruments and outcomes. Sub-dimension 11.1 on digital policy foundations reflects comparatively strong results, driven by established strategies, structured stakeholder engagement and expanding financial support for SME digitalisation. Sub-dimension 11.2 on digital safety shows moderate development, with improved legal alignment with European Union (EU) standards but limited SME-focused implementation and preventive support. Sub-dimension 11.3 on the use of advanced technologies indicates emerging progress, as strategic priorities and pilot initiatives are in place, while uptake of frontier and sustainable digital technologies remains concentrated among more innovative firms. Overall, Serbia has built a solid foundation for SME digitalisation, but policy instruments still tend to support incremental adoption rather than enabling broad-based organisational and technological transformation. Compared with other dimensions, Dimension 11 represents a mid-performing area for Serbia.

Sub-dimension 11.1: Digital policy foundations

Serbia achieved an overall score of 3.65 on Sub-dimension 11.1, placing it among the stronger WBT regional performers in digital policy foundations for SMEs. This reflects a relatively well-developed strategic framework supported by growing analytical evidence and structured stakeholder engagement, although operational clarity and dedicated delivery instruments remain uneven.

Policy planning and design for SME digital transformation in Serbia are comparatively advanced, with digitalisation embedded in core SME and industrial strategies. The Strategy for the Development of SMEs 2023-2027 and its Action Plan constitute the main reference framework for SME digitalisation. Measure 2.3 aims to support SME digital transformation through improved access to digital tools, advisory services and innovation financing; however, its objectives remain narrowly defined, implementation arrangements are not clearly specified, and allocated resources are modest relative to the breadth of ambitions. More broadly, the strategy relies largely on mapping existing initiatives rather than introducing new instruments or clearly articulated pathways to address structural barriers to SME digital adoption. Other strategic frameworks, including the Industrial Policy Strategy 2021-2030, the Smart Specialisation Strategy 2020-2027 and the Strategy for the Development of the Start-up Ecosystem 2021-2025, also reference digitalisation, but actions are formulated at a high level and lack dedicated financial mechanisms tailored to SME technology uptake. At the same time, Serbia has strengthened the analytical foundations for policy planning through systematic assessments of SME digital maturity and barriers to technology adoption, including strategic studies, surveys and the Digital Advisors for SMEs project implemented by the Development Agency of Serbia, alongside EU-supported research initiatives. SMEs and other stakeholders are engaged throughout the policy cycle, from consultations to working groups and advisory processes, which helps align strategic priorities with firm-level needs. These practices enhance inclusiveness and policy relevance, although the absence of clearly defined objectives, delivery instruments and institutional lead continues to limit the coherence and operational strength of Serbia’s overall approach.

On the implementation side, support for SME digital transformation in Serbia is delivered through a mix of innovation, finance and advisory instruments. Responsibilities are shared across several bodies, including the Ministry of Economy, the Innovation Fund, the Office for IT and eGovernment, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Centre for Digital Transformation, resulting in overlapping mandates and dispersed delivery. The Innovation Fund has mobilised approximately EUR 52 million in public funding through its Mini Grants and Matching Grants programmes, with projects concentrated predominantly in the ICT sector; however, no new calls have been published since 2024. More recent support is mainly channelled through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Go Digital in the Western Balkans programme, which combines loans, incentive grants and technical assistance for SME investments in digitalisation and green technologies, and through the SME HUB programme, which provides structured, firm-level transformation support for manufacturing SMEs. While these initiatives expand available resources and introduce more targeted approaches, their dispersion across instruments and institutions continues to limit visibility for SMEs and weakens the coherence and additionality of overall implementation.

Box 1.5. Spotlight: The Innovation Fund’s Mini Grants and Matching Grants Programs supporting SME digital transformation

Through its Mini Grants and Matching Grants Programs, the Innovation Fund has become one of the enablers of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) digital adoption and innovation in Serbia. - By 2023, when the last public call was launched, nearly 400 projects had received support, with a total project value of EUR 77.6 million, of which the Innovation Fund provided EUR 55.2 million in public funding. Since 2019, a part of the scheme’s funding has been directed toward projects integrating advanced digital solutions such as automation software, Internet of Things-enabled systems and artificial intelligence-powered analytics.

Matching Grants beneficiaries are predominantly micro and small enterprises active in manufacturing (36%) and ICT (28%), while Mini Grants beneficiaries are concentrated in the ICT sector (55%) and early-stage innovation. Approximately one in five beneficiaries includes a woman in the ownership structure across both programmes.

The programme’s competitive selection process, combined with tailored mentoring and monitoring, ensures that funding is linked to concrete implementation outcomes. Since 2021, the Innovation Fund has progressively shifted toward start-up support through instruments such as the Katapult Accelerator and the Smart Start Programme, reflecting a strategic reorientation that has reduced the focus on broader SME digital transformation support. Expanding its reach to traditional sectors and rural areas could further broaden its impact.

Sources: Innovation Fund (2025[54]; 2025[55]).

Monitoring and evaluation of SME digital transformation policies in Serbia are in place but remain only partially developed. Implementation is tracked through annual reporting under the Strategy for the Development of the Information Society and Digital Government 2021-2026, the Digital Economy and Society Index for Serbia, and the e-Government Development Programme 2023-2025. These mechanisms provide useful high-level insights into digital progress, but publicly available data remain limited and there are no dedicated SME-level baselines or indicators on digital maturity or technology uptake. As a result, while the authorities can monitor overall trends, their capacity to systematically assess outcomes, identify gaps and fine-tune instruments in response to SME needs remains constrained.

Sub-dimension 11.2: Digital safety

Serbia achieved a score of 3.15 for Sub-dimension 11.2, reflecting relatively strong legal and strategic foundations for digital safety. This performance is driven by progress in aligning data protection and cybersecurity legislation with EU standards, although SME-specific design, implementation and preventive support mechanisms are yet to be fully developed.

Policy planning and design for digital safety in Serbia are anchored in a relatively comprehensive legal and strategic framework. The Law on Personal Data Protection, which is largely aligned in substance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Law on Information Security provide the core regulatory basis, complemented by the Strategy for the Development of the Information Society and Information Security 2021-2026 and the Personal Data Protection Strategy 2023-2030, recently updated with an Action Plan to raise awareness, integrate data protection into education and strengthen public sector capacity. Amendments to the Law on Information Security have also introduced new obligations for ICT operators and public institutions. However, despite this formal alignment, application in practice remains uneven: SMEs often face difficulties complying due to a lack of guidance or weak supervisory capacity. Penalties for non-compliance remain relatively low compared with the GDPR, and the harmonisation of sectoral legislation has progressed slowly. As a result, Serbia’s digital safety framework is comparatively well-developed but remains only partly operational for SMEs, with limited targeted support for business continuity and private sector cyber resilience.

As for implementation, centralised reporting platforms, such as the CERT-RS incident portal, together with dedicated hotlines and on-site assistance, provide SMEs with channels to respond to security breaches. The government also offers free initial legal consultations through a partnership with the Bar Association, while cybersecurity workshops, practical guides and subsidised assistance, including support delivered under the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Go Digital programme, help SMEs conduct basic risk assessments and improve incident-response capacity. Beyond this, most initiatives remain awareness-oriented, such as the National Cybersecurity Conference co-hosted by the Serbian National Internet Domain Registry Foundation and the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services during European Cybersecurity Month and talent-focused programmes like the “Cyber Hero” initiative and the national Cybersecurity Challenge. Nevertheless, further efforts are needed since there are currently no structured or widely available advisory services or training programmes on GDPR compliance tailored specifically to SMEs. In practice, most public interventions focus on reactive assistance rather than preventive capacity building.

Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for SME digital safety policies in Serbia are still at an early stage of development. While there is no dedicated framework to systematically track cyber preparedness or compliance with data-protection obligations among SMEs over time, feedback on policy implementation is gathered through business organisations such as the National Alliance for Local Economic Development and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia. Formal government-run feedback mechanisms for SMEs’ use of financial and non-financial support instruments remain limited. As a result, the evidence base for assessing policy effectiveness and identifying gaps is still emerging, highlighting scope to strengthen data collection and evaluation practices tailored to SME needs.

Sub-dimension 11.3: Use of advanced technologies

Serbia achieved a score of 3.05 on Sub-dimension 11.3, indicating moderate progress in supporting SME uptake of advanced and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, big data and cloud computing. This performance reflects the presence of strategic priorities and pilot implementation mechanisms, combined with still limited SME-specific instruments and weak integration between digital transformation and sustainability concerns.

Policy planning for advanced and emerging technologies is characterised by broad strategic ambition, but only partial translation into SME-oriented policy design. The Smart Specialisation Strategy 2020-2027 and the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence 2025-2030 set overarching priorities for technological upgrading, while Ethical Guidelines for the Development, Implementation and Use of Reliable and Responsible Artificial Intelligence (2023) promote the principles of transparency, accountability and human oversight as a non-binding soft-law instrument. A draft Law on Artificial Intelligence is under preparation and is expected to align with the EU Artificial Intelligence Act through a risk-based regulatory approach, but its content and timeline remain uncertain as no public draft has yet been released. Serbia’s participation in the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme also offers opportunities for SMEs to access European digital infrastructure and innovation networks (EU, 2021[56]). Efforts to promote the sustainable use of digital technologies remain more fragmented: although strategies such as the Smart Specialisation Strategy and the Strategy for Circular and Green Public Procurement reference sustainability, they are not systematically linked to SME digitalisation policies. Existing frameworks include only a limited number of SME-specific measures, lack dedicated financial mechanisms, and do not provide for systematic monitoring and evaluation. As a result, green and digital policies affecting SMEs continue to evolve largely in parallel rather than in a co-ordinated and mutually reinforcing manner.

Regarding implementation, programmes related to advanced technologies are supported mainly through the Innovation Fund, complemented by research-oriented schemes of the Science Fund and by innovation infrastructure located in science and technology parks, which predominantly benefit start-ups and innovation-oriented firms. Beyond financial instruments, the government has invested in collaborative ecosystems linking SMEs with universities and research centres to strengthen knowledge transfer and applied AI innovation. Initiatives such as the Science and Technology Parks in Belgrade, Nis and Novi Sad, together with the S4AI hub, provide SMEs with access to innovation infrastructure, subsidised or free use of AI platforms and opportunities to test advanced technologies. Dedicated grants, subsidies and low‑interest loans are also available to encourage SME adoption of AI and other advanced digital tools, although access remains more visible among digitally mature firms. In parallel, sustainability is increasingly reflected in implementation through selected hub services and projects such as the GIZ “Green Economy in Serbia” initiative, which links digital tools with resource efficiency and green business models. Nevertheless, a comprehensive public programme combining awareness-raising, skills development and financing within a coherent pathway for SME adoption of advanced technologies has yet to emerge.

Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms related to SME use of advanced technologies and their sustainable deployment are still at an early stage of development. Serbia does not yet operate a dedicated SME‑focused framework to systematically track the uptake, depth of use or sectoral distribution of AI, automation or other advanced tools, nor to assess their environmental implications. While the Centre for Digital Transformation has introduced some monitoring activities related to the sustainable use of digital technologies, evidence of comprehensive, government-led evaluation remains limited in the current assessment cycle. Further strengthening of monitoring capacity would help ensure that policy commitments are translated into clearer and more measurable outcomes for SMEs across different sectors.

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Notes

← 1.  “Insolvency proceedings could, in some circumstances, simply consist of a pre-defined restructuring programme [agreed upon by the debtor and creditor before the beginning of the insolvency proceeding]. The advantage of such pre-existing options is timeliness and ex ante certainty of outcome, and is sometimes used to improve revenues in case of liquidation.” (European Commission, 2016[57])

← 2.  According to the European Commission (2022[58]), the outcomes of insolvency procedures vary significantly across Member States, with average recovery times ranging from 0.6 to 7 years, as of 2022.

← 3.  Based on Article 4, paragraph 4 of the Rules on the Manner of Issuing and Renewing a License to Perform the Duties of a Bankruptcy Administrator (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 22/10), the Board of Directors of the Agency for Licensing Bankruptcy Administrators, at its session held on 30 January 2025, adopted the Decision on professional seminars and courses organised or recognised by the Agency in 2025, for persons submitting an application for the issuance, or application for the renewal of a license to perform the duties of a bankruptcy administrator.

← 4.  In 2023, payments under the Standardised Services Set for SME support amounted to approximately RSD 20 179 422 (≈ EUR 172 000), with the payments for the third and fourth quarters deferred and processed in early 2024. In 2024, the planned budget for the Standardised Services Set was RSD 39 068 000 (≈ EUR 333 000) (Development Agency of Serbia (RAS), 2024[59]; 2024[59]).

← 5.  The Smart Start programme supports highly promising teams in their efforts to validate their business ideas and demonstrate the future usefulness of their technology through the development of a first prototype or a minimum viable product. For more information, see: https://www.inovacionifond.rs/en/programs/smart-start.

← 6.  Monitoring and evaluation of SME business support services in Serbia primarily focus on output indicators, such as the number of SMEs supported, participation rates in training programmes and budget execution. Regional delivery is tracked through the accredited regional development agencies’ activities. However, systematic tracking of longer term business outcomes – such as revenue growth, job creation, innovation impact, and progress in green and digital transitions – is lacking. Additionally, there is limited collection of disaggregated beneficiary data and no formal mechanisms for SME feedback on service quality and relevance. This output-oriented approach restricts the ability to fully assess programme effectiveness and tailor support to evolving SME needs.

← 7.  Dimension 6 has undergone significant structural and methodological changes to reflect the emergence of new policy instruments supporting access to bank finance, the diversification of financing instruments available to firms, and the increasing policy emphasis on monitoring, evaluation and effective implementation. These changes were also introduced to ensure closer alignment with the latest OECD and EU standards and good practices in assessing access to finance policies.

As a result of these changes, scores from the 2022 and 2026 assessment cycles are not directly comparable. However, to preserve the benchmarking nature of the exercise and ensure analytical continuity, the 2022 scores for Dimension 6 and its sub-dimensions were recalculated using the 2026 assessment framework and structure. This enables an illustrative assessment of score evolution between the two cycles and allows the 2026 scores to be used as benchmarks, subject to the limitations arising from the revised structure and methodology of the dimension.

← 8.  The original 2022-Dimension 6 score calculated using the previous methodology was 3.89.

← 9.  The original 2022 bank finance score, calculated using the previous methodology and comprising the 2022 bank finance thematic blocks, was 3.15.

← 10.  The original 2022 non-bank finance score, calculated using the previous methodology and comprising the 2022 non-bank finance thematic blocks, was 3.04.

← 11.  It should be noted that Serbia’s Law on Digital Assets (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 153/2020; in application since June 2021) provides a legal basis for certain crowdfunding-like fundraising through the issuance of investment (digital) tokens. Such offerings allow legal entities to raise funds for projects based on a white paper approved by the Securities Commission (with virtual currencies supervised by the NBS), using a procedure generally lighter than a capital-market prospectus, and have already been used in practice by some issuers. For more details, see (Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, 2020[60]).

← 12.  The thematic blocks “Financial literacy” and “Microfinance institutions” were part of different sub-dimensions in 2022. Their underlying scores remained unchanged; they were simply recalculated using the methodology of the 2026 edition.

← 13.  These training will be delivered through the SSU Programme, which is funded by the Ministry of Economy.

← 14.  A successor strategy for 2025–2030 is under preparation, but no draft document is publicly available as of February 2026.

← 15.  It should be noted that parts of the fiscal State aid framework underpinning the tax incentives promoting SME innovation are not yet fully aligned with the acquis. For more details, see European Commission (2025[44]).

← 16.  It should also be mentioned that the Law on Corporate Income Tax allows established companies to reduce their tax base by 30% when investing in domestic start-ups, and start-up founders are exempt from salary tax and contributions during the first three years.

← 17.  It should be noted that, despite several tax incentives aimed at fostering start-up development, business angels do not benefit from a dedicated tax credit for direct investments in innovative companies, which may constrain the mobilisation of early-stage financing for innovation.

← 18.  In accordance with Article 134a of its Public Procurement Law, Serbia adopted a new Rulebook on the types of goods and services for which contracting authorities are obliged to apply environmental aspects when conducting public procurement procedures. This Rulebook is in force since 1 January 2026 (Public Procurement Office, 2025[61]).

← 19.  Information about the voluntary sustainability reporting standard for non-listed SMEs in Serbia is available at https://www.sgs.com/en-rs/services/vsme-services. SGS stands for Société Générale de Surveillance.

← 20.  The Industrial Policy Strategy of the Republic of Serbia (2021-2030) provides a broad framework for strengthening competitiveness by supporting SME internationalisation, research and development, innovation, skills development, and cluster networking, with a particular emphasis on connecting domestic firms to global supply chains. Closely aligned with the Smart Specialisation Strategy (2020-2027), it identifies underdeveloped clusters as a key opportunity for upgrading manufacturing, fostering digital modernisation, and promoting sustainable and inclusive growth through innovation-driven policies.

← 21.  The 2024 Export Promotion Programme, implemented by RAS, is a multi-year support scheme designed to strengthen SME export capacity through grants covering up to 60% of eligible costs. It supports a wide range of activities – including consulting for market entry strategies, export marketing and digital promotion, product certification, participation in international trade fairs, and procurement of modern equipment –while each beneficiary undergoes a diagnostic of export readiness and prepares an improvement plan. With a budget of RSD 150 million (approximately EUR 1.3 million) and projects lasting up to 18 months, the programme aims to increase the complexity and value of Serbian exports, expand SMEs’ access to new markets, and foster integration into GVCs. For more information, see: https://ras.gov.rs/en/export-promotion.

← 22.  These include machinery, food and beverages, electronics, and textiles, while expanding eligible activities to cover certification, branding, digital marketing and sustainability compliance.