Montenegro is well on its way to closing Chapter 20 - Entrepreneurship and industrial policy in the negotiations with the EU soon, because it is working on the final benchmark, said the head of the working group for this chapter, Dragan Kujović.
"When it comes to Chapter 20, work is being done dynamically on the final measure, i.e. on the implementation of the Industrial Policy of Montenegro until 2020 and the implementation of the multi-year Action Plan for the realization of the goals established by the Industrial Policy, not only with the aim of closing the negotiations in this chapter, but primarily for the positive effects that the application of European policy and standards in this sphere bring to the overall development of the Montenegrin economy", Kujović, who is the State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy, told "Vijesta".
He explained that the benchmarks for closure differ from the benchmarks for opening, because they often imply successful implementation, which is subject to the evaluation of the European Commission (EC), and therefore the dynamics of fulfilling the benchmarks for closure does not depend exclusively on Montenegro.
"In any case, we are well on our way to achieving that this chapter enters the group of those that we will close in the near future", announced Kujović.
According to him, membership in the EU should provide a better entrepreneurial environment and improve innovation and the acquisition of specific entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, the exchange of experience and knowledge, encourage greater investments and investments, contribute to the development and modernization of industrial production, create prerequisites for the internationalization of companies.
"A better business environment for companies will mean fewer administrative barriers and changes in the legal regulations, and thus facilitating business. On the other hand, the availability and diversification of funding sources is increasing, i.e. access to various EU funds and programs, such as the Framework Program for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 and the Program for the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises COSME, as well as venture capital funds," said Kujović.
He adds that with the help of European funds, companies should focus on increasing their own innovation capacity, in order to be able to produce and export products with greater added value and ensure greater own profit.
"One of the biggest benefits of EU membership is the facilitated trade and access to the single EU market of 500 million people and the improvement of the export of goods with a higher degree of processing. Access to the single market also enables the transfer of knowledge and business methods, business practices through more intensive cooperation with more developed foreign companies. "Also, the adoption of international standards will enable inclusion in European and international integration streams and enable the free flow of goods and services from Montenegrin companies," said Kujović.
All this, he says, requires changes and adjustments, but any harmonization with EU standards requires further strengthening of administrative capacities and improvement of coordination in the implementation of planned tasks.
Kujović stated that, in addition to the key, comprehensive strategic document Industrial Policy, numerous individual strategic and legislative acts were adopted with the aim of harmonizing with EU policies that regulate the field of entrepreneurial policy in the broadest sense, the policy of small and medium-sized enterprises and the improvement of the business environment, as well as numerous sectoral policies, such as the policy of tourism, innovation, construction, transport and maritime industry, metal, wood, chemical industry, etc.
"Implementation of various national support programs for the development of entrepreneurship, SMEs and industry, incentives for direct investments, development of business zones (national and local), incentives in the field of agro-industry, tax incentives in tourism, energy, etc. in combination with measures and programs in the field of the labor market, education, science, and supported by available funds from EU programs, IPA funds and others, the expectation is that conditions will be created for the realization of the strategic goals of the Industrial Policy, i.e. increasing the competitiveness of the Montenegrin economy. Therefore, successful implementation is the only prerequisite for closing the negotiation chapter, which we will hopefully close temporarily soon with the good pace we have started," said Kujović.
He stated that in the Entrepreneurial and Industrial Policy chapter, the legal acquis refers only to a lesser extent to the transposition of directives and the introduction of regulations that would require significant legal changes.
"In this context, there is a small number of laws that, according to the EU accession program of Montenegro, remain for adoption, namely the law on planning and construction of facilities, the law on tourism, amendments to the law on ski resorts, amendments to the law on tourist organizations," Kujović said.
The "hardest part" is late payments
Kujović explains that Chapter 20 is a chapter in which the legal acquis of the EU consists of principles and policy instruments that are mainly reflected through announcements, recommendations and conclusions of the Council, and a large part of them is implemented through EU programs. Sectoral policies are also part of the chapter.
"There are no areas in this chapter that are not fully harmonized or very challenging to harmonize. An area that could be singled out as the so-called The "harder" part of the acquis is the Directive on combating late payment in commercial transactions, the full harmonization of which will follow until the day of accession. Montenegro is currently applying the basic principles of Directive 2011/7/EU on combating payment delays in commercial transactions and the regulations have already been harmonized to a significant extent with this Directive and by the day of accession the harmonization process will be fully completed. "Montenegro does not expect difficulties in implementing the legal acquis, as well as fulfilling the remaining obligations from this chapter, and therefore not during the negotiation process," said Kujović.
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