The media Brunch was held on the 16 September 2026, ahead of the 16th PAR National Working Group meeting. During the media brunch, the CEP team – Milena Mihajlović Denić, Programme Directot, Miloš Đinđić, Lead Researcher and Programme Manager, together with researchers Milica Škorić and Milica Divljak presented the results of two CEP policy briefs:

• Dismissal of senior civil servants without explanation and replacement by acting officials – the analysis found that, over the past year, the Government of Serbia dismissed a senior civil servant from a managerial position before the end of their term without stating a legal basis on at least five occasions, while as many as 62% of senior civil service positions in Serbia are currently filled by acting officials rather than through regular competition.
• After a surname change: from scattered procedures to a single life-event service – the research shows that changing a surname today requires up to twelve separate administrative procedures and more than 14,000 dinars, a burden borne almost exclusively by women. Through the WeBER Policy Lab, CEP worked together with the relevant institutions to develop a prototype unified service that would reduce this process to a single request, a single payment, and a single visit.

The meeting concluded with a discussion on further research priorities in the field of public administration reform.

WeBER 3.0 is a regional civil society initiative that monitors and supports public administration reform in the Western Balkans, with support from the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency. The National Working Group in Serbia is coordinated by the European Policy Centre (CEP).