European money for the Montenegrin path to the EU

About publication

Main author: Radoš Mušović

Co-author: Daliborka Uljarević

Publishing year: 2021.

In 2006, the European Union grouped all support programmes into one comprehensive instrument - the Instrument for Pre Accession Assistance IPA to provide support to the candidate and potential candidate countries to meet the criteria for membership. Under this programme, Montenegro, but also other countries aspiring to EU membership, receive financial, technical and expert assistance for projects of institutions and other entities to dynamize reforms and improve the living standards of citizens.

One of the smaller, although very visible, beneficiaries of the IPA programme in Montenegro are civil society organisations (CSOs) through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), the Civil Society Support Instrument (CSF), the Media Professionalization Programme and cross-border programmes (CBC) with Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and previously with Croatia, and now trilateral programmes.

This study provides insight into the support to civil society within the above-mentioned instruments from 2012 to 2019, i.e., in the first seven years of negotiations between Montenegro and the EU. To understand the position of civil society concerning the use of IPA funds and the ratio of these funds that are available to them, a review of the financing of projects of ministries from these funds is given as well.

The publishing of this publication was supported by the Ministry of Public Administration of the Government of Montenegro within the project “Let’s negotiate together for the EU” implemented by the CCE.