The Ministry of European Affairs (MEP), which is responsible for the process of European integration in the country, claims that it does not have data on the compliance of systemic laws in the field of environmental protection with the law of the European Union (EU), i.e. its directives, which is why the Action for Social Justice ( ASP) sent a complaint to the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information.
"At the end of last year, ASP asked the MEP for a cross-section of the state of compliance of ten systemic laws in the field of environment and climate change, but from that government department they claim that they do not have the information, but forward the request to the ministries of tourism, ecology, sustainable development and development of the North and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management. In the subsequent mail communication of the ASP with the MEP cabinet, the representatives of that Ministry claim that they check compliance with EU law until the bill is sent to the parliament for adoption, but not what is adopted in the highest legislative body age," the ASP press release points out.
From that non-governmental organization (NGO) they added that they consider such a response meaningless, that it is aimed at denying them access to information, and in the complaint to the competent Agency, they quote from the MEP website that the Ministry is in charge of monitoring compliance with the legislation of Montenegro. with the EU acquis.
"In this sense, it would be paradoxical if compliance is monitored only up to the level of draft laws, which are adopted by the Government, but not what can be amendment actions to draft laws in the state parliament, which can significantly change the final version of an adopted law," he writes. in the statement.
ASP yesterday sent initiatives to the Parliamentary Committee for Tourism, Agriculture, Ecology and Spatial Planning and the Committee for European Integration with a recommendation to initiate control/consultative hearings regarding the fulfillment of the country's obligations in Chapter 27.
"In the latest Report of the European Commission on the progress of Montenegro in Chapter 27, it is indicated that limited progress has been achieved in further harmonizing the national legislation with the acquis of the EU on water, nature protection and climate change. Chapter 27, which refers to the protection of the environment and climate change changes, is one of the most demanding in the process of accession, but the issue of environmental protection in the country has been marginalized for years, and suppressed by the economic and social poverty of the entire society," said ASP.
They state that in the middle of last month they started the implementation of the "Higher quality laws for better environmental protection" project, within which they are working on a legal analysis of ten systemic laws in this area and their compliance with European directives.
"The project is implemented through the grant scheme of the broader project "Strengthening the participation of civil society in the field of the environment in the EU accession process (4E)", which is implemented by Coalition 27, supported by the European Union and the Ministry of Public Administration. The leading partner in that project is the Center for Protection and the study of birds," the ASP statement concluded.
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