The Ministry of European Affairs (MEP) does not expect any significant challenges in fulfilling the obligations from the Reform Agenda this year, although among them are changes in electoral legislation and amendments to the Constitution in accordance with the acquis of the EU and European standards on the independence, responsibility, integrity, impartiality and professionalism of the judiciary. and prosecutor's offices.
"It is not expected that there will be significant challenges in fulfilling the obligations undertaken, bearing in mind that over 80 percent of citizens believe that Montenegro has a place in the EU", MEPs told "Vijesta" in response to questions about whether Montenegro can fulfill all obligations from the Reform Agenda this year, what it depends on and which obligations will be the most difficult to fulfill.
They state that during the preparation of the final version of the document, all Montenegrin institutions have foreseen a detailed time plan for the implementation of reforms in a four-year period, taking into account the current socio-economic position of Montenegro and the need to accelerate its development in accordance with EU standards.
To amend the Constitution and election laws, two thirds of the total number of deputies (54), that is, at least part of the opposition, must vote. In order to implement electoral reform, the Parliamentary Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform was formed, which was abandoned by the opposition at the end of last year, which blocked its work. At the end of the year, the opposition also blocked the work of the parliament, which is why the budget for this year has not yet been adopted.
At the end of October last year, the European Commission adopted the Reform Agenda of Montenegro, the fulfillment of which is a condition for withdrawing money from the Instrument for Reform and Growth within the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. The growth plan is a combination of grants and soft loans totaling six billion euros for the period 2024-2027. 383,5 million euros have been provided for Montenegro, of which 110 million euros are non-refundable, and 273,5 million euros are soft loans. The European Commission plans to allocate seven percent of the total amount at the beginning of the implementation of the Growth Plan as a kind of pre-financing, and the rest in six half-yearly support tranches, depending on the level of implementation of the planned reforms.
Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorcevic she said recently in an interview with "Vijesti" that this pre-financing will not depend on the fulfillment of the planned reform steps from the Reform Agenda. Before, as she said, the money is paid, the Instrument Accession Agreement and the Loan Agreement are expected to enter into force in the first quarter of this year.
The first tranche amounts to around 29 million euros and, according to Gorčević, its payment is related to the fulfillment of conditions defined through 14 steps in different policy areas.
"The European Commission defined February 28 of this year as the deadline by which it is necessary to complete these steps, after which Montenegro is obliged to submit the first report to the European Commission by mid-March, along with an accompanying request for the payment of the first semi-annual tranche," said Gorčević.
The MEP stated that in order to fulfill all the obligations stipulated in the Reform Agenda, competent ministries and authorities have been identified, which through the implementation of regular activities should provide credible sources of verification for each achieved activity.
The achievement of all goals, as they said, although primarily perceived as financial support for the Montenegrin budget, is also an indicator of Montenegro's readiness to join the European family through EU membership through system reform in the coming period.
"The commitment of the 44th Government of Montenegro on this path remains unequivocal through various institutional mechanisms that will ensure the fulfillment of all obligations from the Reform Agenda not only in the next, but also during all years of the implementation of activities", said the MEP.
Amending the Constitution is an obligation that must be fulfilled in the first half of the year, while electoral laws must be amended by the end of the year.
In the first half of the year, it is necessary to revise the anti-corruption framework
The obligations from the Reform Agenda for the first half of the year are to revise the anti-corruption framework, integrity and conflict of interest framework for public procurement after the adoption of amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption (June last year), as well as to enable connection and access to the Administration's databases revenue and customs and other state authorities with which the Special Prosecutor's Office cooperates.
In addition, it is necessary to amend the corporate law or adopt a new one in order to introduce new rules and criteria for the appointment and election of members of the management/supervisory boards of state-owned enterprises.
“Nominations will be subject to an open, independent selection process based on merit, while increasing the diversity and number of independent board members. Strengthen the management, ownership function and supervision of state-owned enterprises by establishing performance-based incentives to assess the efficiency of state-owned enterprises based on mandatory annual financial reports," the Reform Agenda states.
It is also foreseen that the new Law on the Registration of Business Entities recognizes and defines the status of active and inactive companies, that the company register is regularly updated in order to delete defunct companies, as well as to achieve 100% compliance between the Central Bank register and the company register.
In the first half of the year, it is planned to implement measures aimed at protecting energy-poor and vulnerable consumers, including the development of a methodology for defining energy-poor groups and monitoring tools
One of the obligations is the adoption of a long-term building renovation strategy with an action plan, which will be implemented through reconstruction projects of existing public buildings that are in progress and aligned with the annual renovation goal of 3 percent.
Suppression of the gray economy in focus
Obligations until the end of the year include, among other things, improving the legislative framework and focusing on the informal economy.
It is planned to adopt amendments to the Law on misdemeanors, on inspection supervision, on prevention of illegal business, as well as the Criminal Code of Montenegro, in order to strengthen the supervision of inspectors (including the right to enter residential premises where unregistered activities are suspected), the introduction of an appeals procedure, abolishing their territorial jurisdiction, removing the possibility of discretionary decisions and ensuring the fulfillment of prerequisites for a systematic fight against the informal economy.
One of the obligations is a 20% increase in the filling of vacant positions in competent courts for the fight against corruption, the establishment of a single database on domestic violence that includes at least 95% of cases reported to the police or social welfare offices, and the fulfillment of the GREVIO/Istanbul Convention recommendation for establishment of three crisis centers for victims of sexual violence in accordance with the standards specified in the convention (ie integrated health, legal and psychological services for victims).
A reduction in the number of complaints to the Ombudsman institution and a reduction in the number of incidents reported by LGBTIQ civil society organizations, as well as a reduction in violations of basic human rights and freedoms of persons deprived of their liberty, is also foreseen.
An increase in the number of court proceedings and verdicts against prison staff in cases of ill-treatment/torture is planned.
Among the obligations for this year is the drafting of amendments to the Law on Foreigners in the part related to visas and visa policy in order to harmonize with the standards and procedures for obtaining, processing and issuing visas.
The plan is to activate beneficiaries of material support, through changes in the law, and launch a tender procedure for the construction or renovation of schools in order to reduce the number of shifts in the most populated primary schools from the current 5 shifts to a maximum of 3.
The adoption of a number of laws and measures in the field of environmental protection and cyber security is also foreseen.
The responsibility of the Government, the Assembly and all institutions is even greater
MEPs remind that at the end of October this year, the Government formed a Coordinating Body to monitor the implementation of the Reform Agenda 2024-2027, which includes the competent ministries and is responsible for providing information on the current status of implementation for each reform and step, as well as implementation plans for the next period, until the planned results are achieved.
It was agreed that the Ministry of European Affairs and the Ministry of Finance will work together to complete the legal basis and create a system of coordination and monitoring of measures from the Reform Agenda.
"In the case of Montenegro, the Growth Plan is an instrument whose implementation goes hand in hand with the acceleration of the negotiation process and as a confirmation that the European Union sees us as a future member state. The responsibility of the Government, the Assembly and the entire system of institutions is therefore greater in the coming period - to implement all the reform measures to which they committed themselves in the Reform Agenda on time and with quality," said MEPs.
Last month, after 12 years of negotiations with the EU, Montenegro closed three chapters (7 - intellectual property law, 10 - information society and media and 20 - entrepreneurship and industrial policy). Chapter 31 - foreign, security and defense policy, was not closed due to the blockade of Croatia.
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