Centre for Civic Education (CCE) has submitted comments, proposals, and suggestions to the Ministry of Finance, within the ongoing public consultation, regarding the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees, focusing on so-called functionary allowances.
For years, CCE has been advocating for the abolition or a significant limitation of functionary allowances. Nearly three years ago, in early February 2022, CCE submitted to all parliamentary clubs, as well as to the Committee on Political System, Judiciary and Public Administration of the Parliament of Montenegro, an initiative to amend Article 36 of the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees along with the related changes to Article 60 of the Law on State Officials and Civil Servants for alignment purposes. This initiative was followed by numerous reminders, but unfortunately met unanimous silence from parliamentary clubs.
Additionally, a year ago, the new parliamentary composition was urged to break up the continuity of this practice, however, to this day, none of the MPs, despite some of them publicly announcing it, especially from PES and the Democrats, have done anything to process these legal changes.
The amendments we have now proposed aim to reduce the privileges of public officials funded by the Montenegrin budget, while also creating a fair and sustainable system that does not favour party structures at the expense of citizens.
Officials’ allowances currently allow former officials to receive their full salary for up to a year after leaving office. In the increasingly dynamic political context, this is a serious financial burden on the state budget and discriminates against other categories of employees, both in the public administration system and in the general labour market, who are not granted such rights. Furthermore, this level of privilege is unheard of in EU member states, whose standards and best practices Montenegro seeks to align with—especially considering these are economically more stable countries than Montenegro.
It should be noted that the Law, as currently defined, grants this right to all officials, regardless of the length of their term or the reason for leaving office – factors that should play a significant role in such cases. Hence, numerous officials who served for only a few months, or those recorded for unethical or even illegal actions, are entitled to this one-year allowance.
CCE believes that the Ministry of Finance should take a responsible approach and incorporate our proposals, and the Government should send such a draft to the Parliament for adoption.
The proposed amendments include reducing the period for allowance payment from one year to three months, eliminating the possibility of extending the allowance if the official gains pension rights during the period when they are entitled to the allowance, limiting the amount of the allowance to the average net salary in Montenegro instead of the full last salary received by the official, and restricting the right to the allowance if the term of office lasted less than three months, or if the official was dismissed or resigned, or acted unethically or unlawfully.
CCE reminds that the public in Montenegro has already clearly expressed its dissatisfaction with such practices. Findings from the CG Pulse survey in 2022, a joint initiative of CCE and the DAMAR Institute, indicate that as many as 82% of citizens believe that officials’ allowances should be abolished.
CCE believes that these amendments would contribute to greater balance and reduce fiscal pressure, which is crucial for maintaining budget stability. Furthermore, it would be a signal that the authorities treat all employees equally and align with EU standards and best practices. Most importantly, it would be a rare and significant example of placing the public interest above the particular interests of political structures.
Itana Gogić, Programme Assistant