Veljović: Montenegro must not allow itself to become a graveyard for EU cars

The closure of Chapter 14 Transport Policy, which will harmonize the Montenegrin transport system with the European Union, is expected soon, announced the head of the negotiating working group, Nikola Veljović, adding that passenger rights in all modes of transport are harmonized with European ones.

"Transport policy is one of the most complex and intricate negotiation chapters because it concerns several modes of transport, namely maritime, rail, road and air. Our goal with this chapter was to harmonize our acquis and transport system with the European Union's transport system. We are actively working on this," Veljović said in an interview with the Mina-business agency.

He stated that in the previous period, a large number of legal and by-law solutions were adopted that are in line with EU legislation, and a prerequisite was created for the implementation of social policy, protection of passenger rights, as well as providing conditions for domestic carriers.

"What is key is that we have almost brought the process to an end and we expect to close this chapter soon," Veljović added.

He stated that one of the final benchmarks of the chapter relates to passenger rights, which is in line with European regulations.

"This was voted on in the Parliament, namely all solutions concerning passenger rights, which are the laws on contracts in rail transport, road transport and the Law on Passenger Rights in Maritime Transport. What is crucial is that our citizens will have the same rights as passengers and citizens in the EU," said Veljović.

He said that in the event of a bus delay of a few hours, the passenger will have the right to compensation, that is, the carrier will have to offer them an alternative mode of transportation or compensate them for the damage caused and refund the ticket.

"In the case of deaths, families have an extremely large compensation for damages, which will be regulated by bylaws," Veljović added.

He reminded that air traffic rights have long been harmonized with European ones and that in the event that a flight is delayed, passengers have the right to compensation and a refund.

"Now it is in all forms of transport in Montenegro, both road and rail," said Veljović.

Within Cluster 4 – Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity, to which Chapter 14 belongs, is also the recently provisionally closed Chapter 21 Trans-European Networks. The head of the negotiating working group for that chapter, Bojana Laković, explained that it concerns large energy, transport and telecommunications systems at the EU level.

"By closing the chapter, we have fulfilled certain requirements that were set before us as a state. This mostly related to the harmonization of the acquis and strengthening administrative capacities," Laković told the Mina-business agency.

She explained that the state needed to align with the corridors envisaged under this chapter in the areas of energy and transport and to strengthen administrative capacities in institutions that would later work on implementing large infrastructure projects affecting all three areas.

"There is a fund under Chapter 21 that has now become partially available to us as a country, with the temporary closure of the chapter, and with the accession to the EU we will have full access. So far, we have only used funds from the Western Balkans Investment Framework for projects related to infrastructure. Under Chapter 21, we are accessing the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which mostly finances projects for the construction, reconstruction of infrastructure and networking," Laković specified.

Veljović, speaking about the transporters' protests, said that the Ministry of Transport is actively involved in this matter, and that their protest is justified.

"Part of their requests concern the stay of our citizens in European Union countries. There is a Schengen rule of 90 in 180, which means that our citizen may not stay on EU territory for more than 90 days, which poses a problem for our transporters," Veljović said.

The Ministry of Transport, he said, recognized this problem in October last year, where they raised the issue at the European Parliament in Brussels and launched an initiative to change the Schengen rules.

"However, the European Commission has said that this is not possible at the moment, given that it concerns all member states. The European Commission has initiated the establishment of a working group at the Western Balkans level, with representatives of the member states and the European Commission, where two meetings were held at which some short-term solutions were offered. One of them is for the member states in the region to amend their legislative systems, that is, to enable professional drivers to obtain work and residence permits," said Veljović.

Neighboring Croatia, he said, has proposed amendments, which will be in their parliament in June.

Veljović, speaking about ordinary drivers, said that the rules regarding vehicle technical inspections have long been harmonized with EU standards.

"Montenegro must not allow itself to become a graveyard for EU cars. We have a situation where vehicles that are extremely old are being imported. Therefore, last year, the Ministry initiated an amendment to a regulation that limits the import of Euro 4 standard vehicles, i.e. switching to Euro 5, in order to protect our environment and contribute to traffic safety on our roads," Veljović said.

According to him, the EU insists on sustainable forms of transport, such as rail, where the country has received funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Laković added that the state must fully align with the sustainable models promoted in the European Union, and that is a priority.

"We are included in European corridors. We have recognized roads, railways and the Port of Bar in European corridors. Energy is recognized in the Trans-Balkan Corridor, which connects Montenegro, Italy and further towards Serbia," Laković stated.

She said that the Port of Bar has been recognized as an important station connecting the Adriatic Sea with Central Europe, with around EUR 21 million invested in the Port of Bar to date to ensure infrastructure and security.

Speaking about the telecommunications sector, Laković said that we face an infrastructure challenge, as rural areas must be even more connected.

When asked how long it would take for citizens to feel EU investments in their daily lives through some improvement in standards, Laković replied that she hopes that in the next three to five years, the results of the work taking place on the highway, as well as those that will take place on the railway, and in the fields of energy and telecommunications, will be seen.

"We are getting access to funds, but that is for the area of ​​transport and telecommunications, only when we enter the EU. When you look from the side, you think it is really easy and if a project starts, we all wonder why it is not finished. I had that attitude until I came and saw how complicated infrastructure projects are," Laković said.

She believes that the state needs to do a lot of work to strengthen the capacities of people involved in projects.

"Projects are our future and by opening additional funds and investment opportunities, we must strengthen our capacities. Because tomorrow, when we enter the EU, we will be an equal player and it will not be so easy to get those funds," Laković assessed.

She said that there is a misconception that simply by joining the EU we will have a perfect network of roads, railways, energy and telecommunications.

"What the EU gives us are security and interoperability standards. It is up to us as a state to implement those standards. That depends on us and how actively we work on it. Also, there may be a perception that Europe gives us all the money. However, that is not the case. We as a state have to co-finance every project we apply for," explained Laković.

When asked whether the EU would ban old cars, Veljović replied that Europe would never ban old cars.

"We have a regulation regarding classic cars. These are all vehicles that are 30 years old and older. We have a large number of our citizens who have such vehicles and register them as classic cars. We also have to strike a balance between environmental protection, traffic safety and the standards of our citizens," Veljović said.

He added that they are aware that not everyone can afford a new vehicle.

"That's why we only raised the standard to Euro 5 for vehicle imports. We didn't want to raise it any higher, because that would mean that our citizens would have to import and buy newer vehicles," Veljović said.

Also, the Ministry of Transport, in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and the Eco Fund, subsidizes the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles for our citizens.

"Our citizens will have the opportunity to choose whether to buy a new electric or hybrid vehicle with EU and state subsidies or to buy a used vehicle that will be essentially priced similarly to this one. We leave the choice to the citizens and hope that they will opt for sustainable modes of transport," Veljović concluded.

The text was created as part of the "EU Reality Check" project, implemented by the MINA agency. The project is supported through the broader "MedIA-Lit" program led by the Center for Civic Education (CCE) in partnership with the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia (HCHRS), the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in North Macedonia (MHC), the Tirana Center for Journalistic Excellence (TCJE) from Albania and the Atlantic Initiative (AI) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with financial support from the European Union and co-financing from the Ministry for Regional Development, Investments and Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of Montenegro.