During the past period, Montenegrin institutions have continued to fulfill their obligations and reach European standards in the fields of agriculture, food safety and fisheries. Progress in these areas is ongoing, but it is necessary to continue strengthening administrative capacities, both in terms of harmonizing legislation and in terms of the application of EU pre-accession support for rural development, it was assessed at the fourteenth meeting of the Subcommittee for Agriculture and Fisheries between Montenegro and the European Commission which was held today in an online format.
The meeting presented progress in chapters 11 - Agriculture and rural development, 12 - Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary affairs and 13 - Fisheries in the period since the previous meeting held on October 6, 2020.
Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs presented the achieved results, current activities as well as plans for the next period.
Opening the meeting of the Subcommittee, the main negotiator, Zorka Kordić, pointed out that Montenegro is encouraged, both by the messages from the first political Intergovernmental Conference in June 2021, and by those that arrived yesterday from the highest EU addresses at the Brdo Summit, which confirmed that the door Union open to Montenegro. She expressed her belief that in the coming period our institutions will intensify efforts and reforms in all fields with the aim of adopting standards and achieving the quality of life that will ultimately lead to EU membership.
"From the perspective of a candidate state whose main strategic and foreign policy priority is EU membership, I am pleased to state that, after yesterday's EU-Western Balkans Summit, it is now clear to everyone that the process of European integration has resisted all obstacles in this, for the world, very difficult period , which once again proved mutual commitment and sincere intentions. Now we have concrete instruments for that - a revised negotiation methodology and an Economic and Investment Plan for the Central Bank," said Kordić.
She said that in the areas covered by this Subcommittee, the Montenegrin administration worked dedicatedly in all fields, and that within the negotiation chapter 11-Agriculture and rural development, the implementation of all planned activities continued, with a focus on the development of new strategic documents and further strengthening of administrative capacities for adequate implementation of the Common Agricultural and Common Fisheries Policy.
As she pointed out, in part of the negotiation chapter 12 - Food safety, veterinary medicine and phytosanitary supervision, numerous activities were undertaken in terms of improving the quality of raw milk, improving facilities in order to fully comply with EU requirements, and accreditation of agricultural products for export to the EU.
When it comes to negotiation chapter 13 - Fisheries, she expressed the expectation that by the end of the year the Law on Structural Measures, Market Regulation and State Aid in Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Law on the Organization of the Market in Fisheries and Aquaculture, which received a positive opinion from the European commissions.
She emphasized the active role of Montenegro in the implementation of the European Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR), which in the light of the application of the New Methodology is recognized as one of the measures of early integration through which Montenegro gradually acquires the capacity for more successful membership in the EU.
The Head of the Unit for Montenegro and Serbia in the General Directorate for the General Directorate for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Catherine Vent, emphasized that the Subcommittee is an important opportunity to review the progress of Montenegro in the EU accession negotiations in the fields of Agriculture and Rural Development (Chapter 11), Food Safety, Veterinary Medicine and Phytosanitary Supervision (Chapter 12) and Fisheries (Chapter 13), for which the Commission's upcoming annual report on Montenegro will provide further guidance.
Vent acknowledged the hard work of the Montenegrin administration in the last period. She expressed her hope that the challenges related to the change of personnel, the process of legislative harmonization and the implementation of the EU instrument for pre-accession assistance for rural development (IPARD) will be overcome in the near future. "This is essential in order for EU support and funding to continue to enable Montenegrin farmers and agricultural companies to develop their businesses and rural areas, and to increasingly participate in the EU agricultural market," she pointed out.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Milivoje Saičić, thanked the European Commission for the support it provides to Montenegro on its European path, which is reflected in the financing of numerous programs and projects and the provision of expert support with the aim of reaching the standards of EU member states, both in terms of harmonization of the legal framework, as well as in the application of regulations in the field of agriculture and rural development, fisheries and food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary affairs.
He pointed out that the corona virus pandemic in 2020 caused a drop in the gross domestic product (GDP) of Montenegro by 15,3 percent, which caused the Montenegrin economy to lose 765 million euros.
"The Montenegrin economy suffered the biggest loss in tourism, which is the main generator for the marketing of agricultural and fish products, which is why it was extremely difficult for farmers and fishermen to survive, not to mention how difficult it was to get into new investments. In addition to difficult placement, all inputs used in production have risen significantly in price, which has further burdened the already vulnerable agricultural producers. Bearing all this in mind, when approving the Agricultural Budget for 2021, we created measures to facilitate the realization of the right to support funds and make them more accessible to agricultural producers. In this sense, we also increased the funds allocated from the national budget by 2,8 million euros," said Saičić.
He said that, despite numerous challenges on a daily basis, the focus of the Ministry is on agricultural producers, on preserving their income and preserving rural areas.
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