Economic Instruments in Environmental Policy in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The starting point from which we started our research is the classification of the Republic of Serbia by European environmental organizations as one of the most polluted countries in Europe. With the opening of Chapter 27, in order to join Serbia to the European Union, devastating data on the current state of the environment were presented. In the last thirty years, the Republic of Serbia has invested little or nothing in environmental protection. The aim of the research is to point out the importance and role of the introduction of economic instruments in solving the problem of environmental protection in the Republic of Serbia. By introducing and implementing economic instruments, we would create the necessary mechanisms for raising funds. The paper will present economic instruments: environmental taxes, environmental fees, subsidies and donations as existing instruments for raising funds. Practice has shown that by applying various economic instruments, we can effectively achieve the set environmental goals. The methods we used in this paper are: analysis, synthesis, statistical method and descriptive method. The data we used in this paper were collected from the Republican Bureau of Statistics and the Environmental Protection Agency. The results of the research show that Serbia needs greater participation of local and national authorities in solving these problems. More needs to be invested in the education of civil servants, a clearer penal policy and the implementation of existing legislation.