Centre for Civic Education (CCE) highlights the chronic lack of transparency in Montenegro’s EU integration process, the lowest ever involvement of interested public in this key national priority, and the low level of fulfillment of assumed commitments. According to data obtained by the CCE, in the first half of this year, only 49% of the commitments set by the Government for this period were fulfilled, with significant differences in performance among agencies. Some have achieved 100% or 90%, while others are below 50%, and some are at 0%. It is important to note that providing an independent assessment is difficult due to the unavailability of numerous pieces of information.
The CCE reminds that the Government of Montenegro, at a session held on 11 April 2024, adopted the Montenegro Accession Programme to the European Union (PPCGEU) 2024 – 2027, although there was previously a Montenegro Accession Programme to the European Union 2023 – 2024. There is no explanation as to why changes were made for 2024 or why this document, which is valid for this year, was adopted after the first quarter of the same year and whether the document included those commitments that were already fulfilled in the first quarter.
Through the PPCGEU 2024 – 2027, a total of 335 commitments are planned for 2024, of which 102 commitments are for the first half of 2024. According to official data obtained by the CCE, in line to the Free Access to Information Law, by the end of June 2024, institutions had fulfilled only 50 of the 102 commitments, or 49%, despite the impression given by officials’ statements that everything is progressing rapidly. In reality, 52 unfulfilled commitments are carried over to the second half of the year, leaving a total of 285. This means that the Government would need to achieve an outcome nearly six times better in the coming months than in the first half of the year to break even regarding fulfilling commitments on the path to the EU.
Out of the 102 planned commitments for the first half of 2024, 28 pertain to laws, 28 to by-laws, and 46 to strategic documents, of which 50 commitments were realized. The lowest fulfillment rate is recorded in relation to strategic documents at 37%, followed by laws at 57%, and related by-laws at 61%.
CCE assesses the importance of adopting a series of laws that contributed to obtaining a positive Interim Benchmarks Assessment Report (IBAR). However, it also notes that certain legal texts have incorporated serious structural flaws to serve partisan and particular interests, misusing the crucial moment and the EU’s openness towards Montenegro. The NGO sector and the interested expert public have timely pointed out such actions, especially in the cases of the Law on the National Public Broadcaster – Public Media Service of Montenegro and the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Judicial Council and Courts.
CCE also criticized one of Prime Minister Spajić’s first decisions to close Government sessions to the public, and warning that this would lead, among other things, to reduced transparency in the EU integration process. This concern is heightened given that the responsible minister only provides verbal updates on the progress during Government sessions, with no written information included in the materials of any Government session held so far. Unfortunately, our warnings have proven accurate, limiting real-time monitoring of this process and the contribution of interested parties while giving the Government room to manipulate its assessments, which are inconsistent with the actual data.
According to data available to CCE, four institutions fully realized their commitments from the PPCGEU planned for the first half of 2024, with the note that these institutions had only one obligation each. These are the State Audit Institution (DRI), the Audit Body, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Political System, Judiciary, and Anti-Corruption, and the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice stands out with a 90% fulfillment rate during this period (9 out of 10 obligations).
Half or more of the planned commitments from this Programme, scheduled for the first half of the current year, were fulfilled by six institutions: the Ministry of Culture and Media with 50% (4 out of 8 commitments), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management with 60% (3 out of 5 commitments), the Ministry of Energy and Mining with 60% (3 out of 5 commitments), the Directorate for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs with 67% (4 out of 6 commitments), the Ministry of Interior with 70% (9 out of 13 commitments), and the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights with 75% (3 out of 4 commitments).
Five institutions fulfilled less than half of the planned commitments from this Programme for the first half of the year: the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare with 25% (2 out of 8 commitments), the Ministry of Finance with 31% (4 out of 13 commitments), followed by the 33% of the track record with the Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Northern Development (2 out of 6 commitments), the Ministry of Public Administration (1 out of 3 commitments), and the Ministry of Economic Development (2 out of 6 commitments).
Additionally, five institutions did not fulfill any of the commitments planned under the PPCGEU 2024 – 2027 in the first half of 2024. These are the Ministry of Health (0 out of 4), the Civil Aviation Agency (0 out of 3), the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation (0 out of 2), the Ministry of Sports and Youth (0 out of 1), and the Customs Administration (0 out of 1).
CCE reminds that the IBAR does not mark the end of Montenegro’s path to the EU and once again urges decision-makers not to divert focus from the numerous commitments taken on this path, emphasizing that both the pace of fulfillment and the quality are equally important.
This review of these documents was made through CCE’s programme supported by the Core Grant of the regional project SMART Balkan – Civil Society for a Connected Western Balkans, implemented by the Center for Civil Society Promotion (CPCD), the Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPM), and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), and financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway. The content of the text is the sole responsibility of CCE and does not necessarily reflect the views of CPCD, CRPM, IDM, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
Nikola Obradović, Programme Associate