Certification process

One of the main goals of the BFC SEE Program is to encourage local self-governments to take a proactive approach towards realization of their development potential and provide the methodology for its realization. Criteria for certification present a sort of reminder of how a local self-government should develop its capacities. The final results of implementation of the certification process are improved competitiveness of the local economy and the attractiveness of the municipality/city as a destination for new investments and development of the existing economy.

Business Friendly Certification South-East Europe establishes a standard for evaluating the business conditions on the state, regional and international levels. The Certification goal is to recognize and promote examples of best practices, encourage quality management in local governments, but also competition among municipalities in the country and the region in attracting new investments.

The BFC SEE Program is intended for municipalities and cities that have appropriate capacities and are strategically committed to improve their business environment, attract investments and encourage their local economic development.

The quality of the local business environment is evaluated on the basis of 62 sub-criteria of the certification, grouped into 10 different areas. The organization of process is conducted in several phases, and in each of them local governments need to fulfil certain criteria. The condition for obtaining a certificate is to have more than 75% of all criteria fulfilled.

The whole certification process of cities and municipalities with friendly business environments in South-East Europe is designed to be sustainable in a way that once the quality procedures are set in place the processes in the local administration continue to function even after the successful realization of the process. The certificate validity is limited to 3 years, which conditions continued verification, promotion and sustainability of established procedures.

The standard foresees that the complete verification process of fulfilled criteria of the BFC SEE regional network will be implemented within 12 months through the following phases:

• Application phase (up to 2 months)
• Evaluation phase (up to 3 months)
• Implementation phase (up to 5 months)
• Verification and certification phase (up to 2 months)
• Promotion (up to 3 years)
• Mentoring 1 phase (after 1st year from holding the certificate)
• Monitoring phase (in the 2nd year from holding the certificate)
• Mentoring 2 phase (after 2nd year from holding the certificate)
• Recertification (3 years from holding the certificate)

Self-assessment of the City/Municipality

Cities and municipalities that are interested in participating in the BFC SEE Program can test their business environment by completing an online Self-Assessment Questionnaire that they can access on the BFC SEE e-platform - https://bfc-see.org/test-your-business-friendliness , after which they will receive the results with a tentative assessment of fulfillment of certain certification criteria.

Application for the BFC SEE Program

For participation in the BFC SEE Program, the City/Municipality submits an official online application to the relevant Technical Secretariat, which can be found on the BFC SEE e-platform, with a guarantee of the submitted data in the application and the questionnaire. After confirmation of validity of the application, the municipality/city, with clear instructions from the Technical Secretariat, forms a Certification Team headed by a coordinator who, together with other team members, is responsible for the implementation of the process. The Technical Secretariat, in agreement with the coordinator, organizes a one-day training for members of the Certification Team, where the details of the process, timelines with clarification of criteria and evidence submitted by the municipality/city for verification in electronic format within the BFC SEE software are presented.