My study summarizes aspects of Serbian regional policy with special focus on regions. The study emphasizes the importance of the issue in the Republic of Serbia in 2010, with the ambition to join the European Union. In the resent years in Serbia the process of regionalization, the power of decentralization and the strengthening to self-government has become a central issue. In this context, my aim is to give a general preview about initial processes of Serbia's regional development, regionalism and decentralization. The research on the subject is justified by the accession of Serbia to the European Union. According to the constitutional law in Serbia there are three levels of administration and territorial administration: central (federal), regional and local. With the enactment of the new Law on Regional Development, and the legal framework five NUTS 2 regions were created. The main questions are: Where is currently the regional organization in Serbia? How and in what measure has the decentralization process been achieved? Is there a "bottom-up" initiative in Serbia or the country is trying to meet the expectations of the European Union? Regional structural policy, as a part of the economic policy is aimed to reduce regional disparities or spacial inequalities. This is the overall goal of regional policy. I state that this goal was not the overall driving force of Serbia's new regional policy since 2007. Institutionalization of Serbia's regional policy started in 2007. The Regional Development Strategy of Republic of Serbia 2007-2012 is the first document on regional development, which defines the country's development priorities. The Law on Regional Development (Law on RD) was responsible for creating the legal framework and policy for regional development in 2009 (modified in 2010), and the regulation on NUTS1 regions was also implemented in 2009 (modified in 2010). After long discussions and several modifications, eventually 5 regions (five NUTS 2 and thirty NUTS 3) were established in Serbia in 2010. The Ministry of Economy and Regional Development is responsible for the institutional coordination of the regional policy. Regional Development Agencies are at the intermediate level of institutional hierarchy. After the regionalization of Serbia, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina remained a whole and unified NUTS 2 region with complex and developed regional institutions. The main function of regions should not be statistical-planning, as Serbia has very unevenly spread geographically defined economic inequalities. In order to balance the negative impacts of globalization and the neoliberal economic policy and because of the ongoing EU integration, the competitiveness of local economies should be strengthened. It should be noted that Serbia had the largest and most differential spatial structure of the former Yugoslavia, furthermore the war conditions gave special characteristics to the spatial backwardness and setback. Regional Disparities in Serbia had been massively growing since the 90s - in spite the fact that Vojvodina had tradition and special rights (to autonomy and self determination). Vojvodina's example (institutions, self-determining, self-organisation, regional responsibility) could be a model for Serbia's further praxis of regionalisation, but only with constitutional guarantees, because regions are very irritable and "delicate" entities in a highly politicised and centralised state. Institutionalisation of regional policy (on regional level) is inevitable to have functional regional development in Serbia. The "bottom up" regionalism does not function and the "top down" regionalisation and the new-created Regional Policy in Serbia is not appropriate to reduce regional inequality. The current Regional Policy (commended from one center) is not appropriate to reduce regional inequalities in Serbia, even if there is a complete institutional framework (APV). Functional regions (mezo-level) and decentralised political power is needed for Balanced Regional Development. Currently, the country's development path is complicated and shows numerous sophisticated features in many segments of the economic progression. The statistical-planning role of territorial units would be largely modified if region becomes a functional category and connects to regional economic development. This is an opportunity for Serbia to take a path of effective economic development.
