The European Commission (EC) yesterday approved the first regular tranche of the Western Balkans Growth Plan for Montenegro in the amount of 10,2 million euros, not the 18 million the government had expected, because half of the necessary reform steps have not been fully implemented - the Ministry of European Affairs (MEP) told "Vijesti".
The department told the newspaper yesterday that the Commission estimated that out of the 14 steps from the Reform Agenda of Montenegro 2024-2027, which were to be completed by the end of February, seven had not been fully implemented.
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"After our institutions initially estimated that 14 of the 10 planned steps had been completed, in communication with the European Commission and through their official assessment of the First Semi-Annual Report on the Implementation of the Reform Agenda, it was confirmed that seven steps had been fully implemented, while the Commission considered seven to have been initiated but not fully implemented within the planned deadline of 28 February 2025. Therefore, a tranche of 10,2 million euros was paid, and not 18 million as initially expected," explained the MEP.
Among the unfulfilled reform steps are the unharmonized visa policy, improving integrity in inspection services, as well as the complete transposition of the electricity integration package in line with the requirements of the Energy Community (EC).
The implementation of reforms from the Reform Agenda, which the Government adopted at the end of September last year, is a condition for receiving money from the Reform and Growth Instrument under the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. The plan is a combination of grants and soft loans for the region of six billion euros for the period 2024-2027. 383,5 million euros have been provided for Montenegro, of which 110 million euros are grants and 273,5 million euros are soft loans. The European Commission allocated seven percent of the total amount as a kind of pre-financing, and the rest was divided into six semi-annual tranches of support, depending on the degree of implementation of the planned reforms.
Montenegro received pre-financing of 26,85 million euros on May 15th of this year.
The reform agenda contains a total of 32 reform measures within four priority sectors - business environment and private sector development, digital and energy/green transition, human capital development, rule of law and fundamental rights, and 14 sub-sectors.
MEPs point out that EU regulation 2024/1449, which established the Reform and Growth Instrument for the Western Balkans, provides for the possibility of an additional 24-month deadline for fulfilling obligations.
Based on this, as they specified, the implementation of the seven steps has been carried over to the next period and, they added, they will be the subject of further assessments by the European Commission.
"Already in the Second Semi-Annual Report (on the implementation of the Reform Agenda), which the Government adopted on July 10, four of the seven steps from the First Semi-Annual Report were assessed as fully achieved, while the remaining three are in the final phase, partly due to administrative reasons and the need for additional clarifications or approvals from the European Commission. Our focus will be on fulfilling the remaining obligations within the agreed deadlines," the MEP said.
As stated in the Second Semi-Annual Report, in the meantime, the obligations related to the adoption of the Spatial Plan of Montenegro in the Parliament (adopted on June 26), as well as the gradual abolition of public intervention in setting prices for electricity supply in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market in electricity, have been fulfilled.
Legislation in line with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) has also been adopted, including a regulatory framework for so-called prosumers (electricity buyer/producer) and simplification of permit procedures. In addition, they add, the Chief State Prosecutor has established and monitors standard operating procedures for the prosecution in relation to handling cases of sexual and gender-based violence, in line with the relevant articles of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, as well as the EU Victims' Protection Directive.
The Report states that the Government, after the end of the summer tourist season, after a detailed analysis, will remove one country from the visa-free regime, in order for Montenegro to align with the EU visa policy.
"After the end of the summer tourist season, the government will conduct a detailed evaluation of the existing visa-free regime with third countries, both in terms of economic effects and the number of tourists, as well as through an analysis of Montenegrin border crossings and possible abuses. Based on the results of the evaluation, one country will be immediately removed from the visa-free regime, followed by a revision of the list of countries and the adoption of the EU Visa Policy Alignment Plan," the document states.
The European Commission has repeatedly warned Montenegro, as a candidate for EU accession, that it must fully harmonize its visa policy with EU rules.
Negotiations on Montenegro's accession to the EU began on June 29, 2012. Since then, Montenegro has opened all chapters, 33, and temporarily closed seven (three at the end of last year, and one in June this year).
5,5 million for infrastructure
The Ministry of European Affairs and the Ministry of Finance stated in a joint statement yesterday that of the first regular tranche from the Growth Plan of 10,2 million euros, 4,7 million euros were paid as budget support through a soft loan.
"The remaining amount of 5,5 million euros will be allocated to finance infrastructure projects through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), of which 2,6 million euros are loans and 2,9 million euros are grants that will be paid in the coming period," the statement reads.
These funds are, as stated, the result of significant reform steps, from a public register of state-owned enterprises, greater transparency of international agreements, the introduction of energy certificates, the development of a broadband network, the full digitalization of public services...
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