Montenegro has not made progress in the reform of the judiciary, the most challenging area of the rule of law so far, the European Commission assessed in the draft of the annual report for Montenegro, which "Vijesti" had access to.
"The judicial system continues to face a deep institutional crisis, leading to weak leadership and management, lack of strategic vision and poor planning, affecting the country's ability to deliver justice. Also, the system remains plagued by accountability issues, among other weaknesses," he said. are in the draft.
Montenegro, as written in the document, remains moderately ready for the application of the acquis of the EU and European standards in the area of justice and basic human rights, but has made limited progress overall in that area.
It was assessed that Montenegro continues to fulfill its obligations regarding fundamental rights, according to international legislation and human rights instruments.
"The Law on the Judicial Council and Judges and the Law on State Prosecution should be amended in line with the acquis communautaire and European standards. The full and effective protection of journalists and other media workers continues to improve, but concrete results in old cases of attacks are not yet achieved".
As written in the draft, Montenegro has achieved a certain level of preparedness in the fight against corruption.
"Limited progress has been achieved. Corruption, including high-level corruption, remains a matter of concern and prevails in many areas, including state structures. Montenegro has not sufficiently improved its legislative and strategic framework for preventing and fighting corruption in accordance with legal EU acquis, European and international standards. The investigation into several cases of high-profile corruption is ongoing. Montenegro has yet to demonstrate a strict and unequivocal judicial response to this critical phenomenon," the document states.
The draft states that limited progress has been made in preventing corruption.
"The results of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) have improved in a quantitative sense. However, its independence, responsibility, and impartiality should be additionally ensured. The law on the prevention of corruption should be improved."
When it comes to the fight against organized crime and high-level corruption, the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SST) is said to have acted quickly in launching several high-profile case investigations, "which appear to indicate deep infiltration of corruption and organized crime into state structures, including the highest level of the judiciary and law enforcement authorities".
"The judicial system of Montenegro needs to show a strong, strict, coherent and unambiguous response. Montenegro must further improve the results of investigations, criminal prosecutions, final judgments and asset confiscations in the fight against organized crime and high-level corruption. In order to avoid the perception of impunity , it is necessary to implement a more effective policy of criminal sanctions and the response of the judiciary... It is necessary to improve the effective and systematic use of financial investigations and the seizure and confiscation of assets. Efforts in this field should primarily be focused on those sectors that are most vulnerable to corruption," it was pointed out is in the document.
As for the political criteria, the reporting period, as stated, was marked by tense and confrontational positions that led to the blockade of the political system.
"The political situation was dominated by a technical government that did not have the confidence of the parliament, and the parliament failed to gather a clear and consistent majority to implement reforms. In addition, the boycott of large parts of the parliament affected his work. There was no effective political dialogue and constructive engagement of political parties with the aim of strengthening the responsibility of the Parliament and supervision over the Government".
As written in the draft, there was a lack of direction regarding EU accession issues, especially after the resignation of the Minister for European Integration. "On several occasions, the Government and/or Parliament decided to ignore the recommendations of the European Commission and/or the Venice Commission".
It is recalled that a law on parliament is being prepared, which would regulate relations between parliament and the executive.
The absence of a functioning Constitutional Court seriously affected the electoral processes
The report points out that the absence of a functional Constitutional Court between September 2022 and February 2023 seriously affected the election processes.
It is recalled that in Montenegro, local elections were held in 14 municipalities (October 2022), presidential elections (March/April 2023) and parliamentary elections (June 2023), and the new Government was constituted only at the end of October 2023, when the constitution of the parliament.
It is emphasized that the mandate of the parliamentary Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform expired in July 2022 without visible results.
"The legal framework requires comprehensive reform and harmonization of electoral regulations, voting and candidacy rights, transparency, dispute resolution mechanisms, and oversight of campaign and media finance. These issues, along with other issues, remain unresolved."
As for management, it is indicated that the Government performed its duties as a technical one from August 2022 and with limited responsibility, due to the "inability of the political system to form a new government or conduct early elections."
"Against the background of unclear rules governing the competences of the technical government, the Government continued to make important decisions and to dismiss and appoint key officials. Key positions are still filled temporarily. The lack of coordination of ministries remains a cause for concern. In February 2023, the Technical Government adopted its Annual Work Program for 2023. Overall, governance transparency remained questionable and the Government often resorted to the procedural option of making decisions without formally holding a session. Both presidents (of state) in office during the reporting period refused to sign the legislation which was adopted after the dissolution of the parliament".
Montenegro is moderately prepared in the field of public administration reform
The EC states that the role of civil society is recognized and promoted, however, the legal and institutional framework that regulates cooperation between state institutions and civil society needs to be improved.
"Politicians, including the highest levels of government, often belittled the work of civil society organizations, and isolated cases of verbal attacks were reported. The Council for the Cooperation of State Bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations did not resume work."
Montenegro, as assessed, is moderately prepared in the field of public administration reform.
"Overall, limited progress has been made. A new public financial management reform program has been adopted and its implementation has begun. In contrast, there have been no changes to changes to civil service legislation that introduced relaxed qualification requirements and ample discretionary powers for appointing authorities to fire heads of authorities".
It is pointed out that the parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government in order to harmonize it with the Law on Civil Service, ignoring the Commission's recommendation.
"The loosened criteria represent a continuing concern regarding the merit-based recruitment, competence and independence of civil servants. The continuous turnover of civil servants in the public administration has led to a further loss of expertise in matters related to the EU accession process and an overall slowing down of the pace of reforms. Parliament has not yet adopted the amendments of the Law on Access to Information. Effective lines of responsibility within the administration have not yet been established".
"Legislative and institutional framework established in the area of basic human rights"
When it comes to the area of basic human rights, the EC states in the draft report, the legislative and institutional framework is largely established, and Montenegro continues to fulfill its international obligations.
However, the EC warns, additional efforts are needed to fully apply the legislative framework, given that the most vulnerable groups in society in Roma and Egyptians (RE population) and LGBTQ persons in the reporting period were still exposed to discrimination, speech hatred and hate crimes.
"The increasing trend in the number of femicides, with insufficient monitoring by the authorities and cases of publicly expressed misogyny, gender-based violence and violence against children continues to cause serious concern. Additional efforts are needed to ensure effective law enforcement, access to justice and exercise of rights in administrative and judicial procedures, especially for vulnerable groups. Montenegro must step up its efforts to conduct efficient, effective and independent investigations in order to solve police torture, violations and illegal use of coercive measures," the draft document emphasized.
"There was no effective judicial monitoring of old cases of attacks on journalists"
In general, the authorities provided quick and efficient police and institutional responses to new cases of violence against journalists, according to the draft report.
"However, there was no effective judicial monitoring of old cases. The government involved the civil sector and media workers in the drafting of the new media legislation, but failed to finalize the legal proposals and present them to the Parliament. The authorities should step up their efforts to effectively deal with unresolved recommendations, etc. "hoc commissions for monitoring violence against the media, especially in connection with important old cases", the EC emphasizes.
According to the draft document, the national public broadcaster - Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG) continued to "produce politically balanced content, including election periods".
"Further sustained efforts are needed to meet the highest standards of media integrity and accountability, counter disinformation and limit the effects of online harassment and hate speech. The media scene remains highly politically polarized, with uneven application of the journalistic Code of Ethics and professional standards. It is necessary to establish credible and efficient mechanisms of self-regulation in order to strengthen the integrity and professionalism of the media", the EC emphasizes.
"Economy Continues Strong Growth Pace in 2022."
When it comes to economic criteria, Montenegro has made limited progress and is moderately prepared in the development of a functional market economy.
"Economic expansion continued its strong pace of growth in 2022, supported by private consumption and strong growth in tourism," the report stated.
It was assessed that the expansive fiscal policy stimulated domestic demand and contributed to a very high growth of net wages, that the budget deficit increased, as if a medium-term consolidation plan was not developed that should solve the growing fiscal challenges.
"The banking sector has remained well-capitalized and liquid. The number of new companies has increased, but efforts to improve operations, the environment and management of state-owned enterprises have slowed down due to political uncertainties. Montenegro has made some progress and is moderately prepared to deal with competitive pressures and market forces within the EU. The education system faces numerous challenges. Efforts to advance the green and digital transition have continued, but there are still major gaps in infrastructure. Despite some progress in the metallurgical sector and good tourism performance, diversification efforts are needed." , the report states.
It also says that Montenegro has made progress in statistical methodology and data transmission to Eurostat and the strategic framework for financial control and should now focus on harmonizing its statistics with the European System of Accounts and strengthening budget inspection and management responsibility in public administration.
"Montenegro is moderately prepared and has a good level of preparedness in the field of public procurement. In 2022, certain progress was made in harmonizing with EU legal acquis and in further improving the functioning of the electronic procurement system. In the coming year, Montenegro should focus on effective implementation legislation on public procurement and public-private partnership. EU public procurement rules should also be fully respected in all cases, such as when awarding concessions for the management of airports," the report says.
The Brussels administration states that progress has been made in the monitoring, accreditation and standardization market; intellectual property rights and the adoption of a new national comprehensive strategy on intellectual property.
When it comes to economic reforms, progress has been made in tobacco control, pensions, industrial policy, taxation and trade facilitation.
"Progress has been made in day-ahead energy generation and state port control, but progress has been limited in terms of the environment and climate. Montenegro should now focus on a green transition strategy in the energy sector, including only phase-out transition plans power plants in Pljevlja, the adoption and implementation of the law on railways. Progress has been achieved in the field of agriculture and rural development through the adoption of new strategies, food and fisheries and aquaculture, regional policy and structural instruments, financial and budget provisions. Montenegro should now focus on the start of the implementation of the IPARD III program, speeding up legislative harmonization in the field of agriculture and rural development as well as fisheries and aquaculture, improvement of the institution for nutrition and food safety control with the continuation of vaccination plans against rabies", the report stated.
In the area of migration, legal labor migration to Montenegro continued to grow, so last year, as the report says, 29.319 permits for temporary residence and work were issued, mostly for seasonal workers.
In 2022, 8.519 migrants who crossed the border illegally were registered, which is twice as many compared to 2021, reflecting regional trends.
A total of 8.320 people reported their intention to seek asylum, but only 175 actually applied for asylum, and nine people were granted international protection status," states the report, which states that the economic investor citizenship scheme was abolished at the end of 2022.
The note states that the report covers the period from June 2022 to June 2023. It is based on information from various sources, including contributions from the Government of Montenegro, EU member states, European Parliament reports and information from various international and non-governmental organizations.
"This also includes the results of comparative assessments and indices produced by other actors, especially in the area of the rule of law. To assess the current situation, the report uses the following scales: early stage, some level of preparation, moderately prepared, well prepared and very advanced. For progress achieved during the reporting period, the following scale was used: regression, no progress, limited progress, some progress, good progress and very good progress. Where appropriate, interim steps were also used," it explained.
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