The issue of the environment should urgently be included in the Government's priorities, according to Coalition 27, while the relevant ministry claims that the European Commission would certainly not accept Montenegro's negotiating position for Chapter 27 if no progress had been made in that area.
Coalition 27 presented today the "Shadow Report" for the chapter environment and climate change for the past year, in which, among other things, it is stated that this chapter, in addition to 23 and 24, is one of the most demanding and difficult for negotiations with the European Union (EU ).
The secretary of the Coalition, Jelena Marojević Galić, said that, in addition to chapters 23 and 24, chapter 27 is one of the most demanding and difficult to negotiate and harmonize with EU standards and legislation.
"Although good progress has been achieved in the legislative sense, taking into account the degree of implementation of legal regulations, infrastructure and capacities, but the complexity of this chapter and further needs, we are of the opinion that the environment and climate change are not yet a priority of the Government and that they are low on the list of political priorities ", she stated.
In the report, among other things, it was assessed that the legislation is partially harmonized with the EU acquis.
"Despite a series of strategic and planning documents, there is a lack of systemic management in the environment, clearly defined goals, realized deadlines, mutual alignment of strategic and planning documents that reflect policy in this area, and strong institutions with professional staff that can respond to challenges," she said. Marojević Galić.
Citing the recommendations of the EC that were not implemented by the end of December, she said that the Ulcinj Saltworks have not yet been protected, the final decision on waste management has not been adopted, the implementation of the National Strategy and national waste management plans is not satisfactory, the recycling rate is still low, and the infrastructure is poor.
"The implementation of the national intended contribution for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is unsatisfactory, the administrative capacities have been slightly strengthened, and the implementation of NEAS is partial," said Marojević Galić.
On the other hand, as she stated, Montenegro ratified the Paris Agreement, adopted, with a significant delay, the Water Management Strategy for the period 2016-2035, adopted the revised Biodiversity Strategy until 2020, and the implementation of the Natura 2000 project is underway.
Marojević Galić reminded that the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant received a temporary permit, and the procedure for the process of environmental rehabilitation has begun, the Stockholm Convention was ratified, the Law on Chemicals was adopted, the Climate Change Sector was reorganized, competences were extended to coastal and sea issues, and the number of of employees in that sector.
According to her, the Environmental Protection Agency has become part of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT), thus losing its independence in decision-making, the realization of megalomaniacal projects such as Porto Skada Lake, Porto Budva, Porto Novi is planned, and the management of protected areas is at an unsatisfactory level.
In Coalition 27, as she stated, they are not satisfied with the dynamics of the preparation of the negotiating position and the opening of the chapter, "because if the chapter is opened in June, it is still a long period of two years from when we were invited to submit the negotiating position until the opening of the chapter".
"That is why our main recommendation and appeal, both to the Ministry and the Government, would be to urgently include the issue of the environment, in addition to Chapters 23 and 24, among the Government's main priorities on the way to joining the European community," said Marojević Galić.
Director General of the Directorate for the Environment in MORT, Ivana Vojinović, said that while reading the report she had "mixed impressions" because, as she stated, she returned on Wednesday from Bulgaria, where Minister Pavle Radulović attended a meeting of ministers of 28 EU member states in charge of the environment.
"We received confirmation and encouragement that Montenegro has made great progress in the field of environment and climate," said Vojinović.
This, she believes, contradicts the general conclusion and views expressed in the alternative report of Montenegrin NGOs.
"If Montenegro had not made progress in the area of Chapter 27, the EC would never have accepted our negotiating position for that chapter," said Vojinović.
She denied that there was a delay in preparing the negotiating position, as stated in the Coalition's report on 27
"Montenegro was not invited to submit the Negotiating Position two years ago, but on March 16 last year. The Negotiating Position was submitted on April 4 of the same year, and by the end of December, we harmonized the text with the EC, from the first to the last letter," Vojinović pointed out. .
Commenting on the assessment that Montenegro has not made progress in the implementation of the intended national contribution in the context of the Paris Agreement, she said that the agreement entered into force for Montenegro on January 19.
"When we could achieve progress for the implementation of the contribution that will be implemented by 2030," asked Vojinović.
She said that in the report, the provisions of the Air Protection Act were presented "a little tactlessly" related to the establishment of a state network for monitoring its quality, and in general, the development of air quality management plans.
Vojinović denied that the Government did not adopt the Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy, stating that it did so last year.
She also assessed that the statements about the existence of incompatibility between the draft law on environmental impact assessment and spatial planning and building construction are somewhat surprising.
Commenting on the assessment that the process of new protected areas and the establishment of the Natura 2000 network is being deliberately slowed down, Vojinović reminded that last year the Dragišnica and Komarnica Nature Park and the Cijevna Canyon Nature Monument were declared, "by which we exceeded the percentage of protected territory to over 15 percent of the total territory of Montenegro Above.
According to her, the statement that Montenegro does not have an adequate response to emergency situations such as the summer fires does not stand either.
Vojinović, commenting on the poorly established system for monitoring the state of the environment and the low level of allocation of funds, said that this year the budget for biodiversity monitoring was increased by 21 percent compared to the previous one.
She said that in July 2016, Montenegro adopted the most comprehensive possible strategic framework in the field of the environment, which the European Commission requested.
"That was a condition without which we could not move forward in the negotiation process," said Vojinović.
She recalled that the non-governmental sector was involved in the development of the National Strategy for Chapter 27, and that four NGOs participated in the working group for the preparation of the Negotiating Position.
"During the drafting of the Negotiating Position, we did not have excessive support and help from our respected colleagues from the NGO sector," added Vojinović.
As she said, in the report, the issue of environmental policy financing is connected with the level of priority given to that policy.
"The report deals only with the figure of two million euros, which is the budgets of MORT and the Environmental Protection Agency. However, these are only current budgets that refer to allocations for salaries and other benefits, material costs and everything that is necessary for the smooth functioning of a state body," explained Vojinović.
She emphasized that the sums in the capital budget of the state allocated for the environment must be considered, as well as in the capital budgets of local governments, but also all open credit lines that are used to finance both current and future projects and programs in that area. .
"If we roughly take into account all open credit lines and allocations from the capital budget, today in Montenegro there is an operational amount of several tens of millions of euros allocated to environmental programs and projects. This reaches the level of almost 40 million euros ", said Vojinović.
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