Country Commitments

IMPROVING PUBLIC SERVICES

Modern economies and societies require regulatory measures to support the growth, investments, innovations, market openness and foster the rule of law. Good regulation improves the quality of life and social cohesion through greater transparency and better cooperation of citizens, non-governmental institutions and government bodies. Weak regulatory environment undermines market competitiveness and confidence of citizens in the Government, and encourages corruption. Regulatory reform should support structural reforms and competitiveness of our economy and facilitate dynamic development of private sector. In this context the application of the new public administration reform strategy is of grand importance.

1.    Improvement of business environment – Given that one of the pillars of Montenegrin economic policy is enhancement of business environment, Montenegro has been implementing relevant doing business reforms continuously. For the purpose of increasing transparency of the work of government authorities the following activities were completed in the previous period:

a.    One Stop Government was established for registration of businesses, which facilitates the legal entities to register their businesses, apply for general tax registration, be assigned VAT, excise and customs number at a single place.
b.    Bankruptcy Law was adopted, which defines the basic bankruptcy principles and affirms the urgency and efficiency principle of bankruptcy procedure which has been achieved through clear indication and shortening of deadlines for taking actions by all bankruptcy procedure authorities, particularly bankruptcy judge and bankruptcy administrator.
c.    The Law on Enforcement and Security was adopted, whose implementation will eliminate the flaws of the existing enforcement system and its inefficiency, which is reflected in a significant number of backlog cases, duration of the procedure, disputes regarding collection of claims and other, and improve the issue of future enforcement service through public enforcement officers and apply the recommendations of the Council of Europe.
d.    The procedures for issue of construction permits were simplified through amendments to a set of laws. Also, One Stop Government was established in the line ministry and the local self-government authority for issue of minimum-technical requirements and construction permits.
e.    Efficiency in the work of cadastre authorities increased.

2.    Public administration reform – Montenegro Public Administration Reform Strategy for the period 2011-2016 “AURUM” defines the process of public administration reform as a long-term developmental process which implies continuous improvement and enhancement of this system. This Strategy envisages that one of the directions of the reform will be the improvement of inspection system through establishment of adequate organisation, specification of powers and fostering of personnel and technical capacities of inspection authorities.

3.    Regulatory Impact Assessment – In view of enhancing its business environment Montenegro created administrative and institutional assumptions and introduced Regulatory Impact Assessment in Montenegrin regulatory system. Regulatory Impact Assessment – RIA is a process of several steps aimed at providing analytical and systematic responses to the question if regulatory intervention is required and if so, which of the potential regulatory options is the best solution for the problem. Namely, Regulatory Impact Assessment is a detailed analysis of the impact of regulations on citizens, economy, state administration... Formally, RIA was introduced in the Montenegrin regulatory system by the Rules of Procedure of the Government of Montenegro of 1 January 2012.

4.    Regulatory Guillotine – Regulatory Guillotine is an analysis of the regulatory framework in Montenegro from the aspect of its impact on economy and citizens, which will be followed with some regulations being repealed and some amended. During the previous two years Montenegro completed the first and the second phase of the project, which implied inventory, collecting and analysing of regulations, when 690 regulations and 320 administrative procedures were analysed. As a result of the analysis, the consultants of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) prepared about 1750 recommendations that were sent to economic associations and competent state administration authorities for suggestions. In cooperation with line authorities responsible for regulations covered by recommendations, the representatives of the Ministry of Finance considered the same in details, for the purpose of producing the final wording of recommendations. Currently, the Ministry of Finance is in the final stage of negotiations with line ministries regarding the recommendations and is preparing the Action Plan for implementation of the recommendations.

5.    Decision on publishing materials from Government sessions – “As soon as possible to citizens” – Following the principle of openness and transparency, on 7 July 2011 the Government passed the Decision on publishing materials from Government sessions so the interested public would be facilitated quicker access to documents adopted by the Government. In line with this Decision, the Government publishes:

a.    Proposal agenda for Government sessions;
b.    Material that the Government considers at the session if the same is not subject to a specific level of secrecy in line with law: draft laws, bills, public consultation reports, proposal decrees, decisions, strategies, plans, reports and briefs, draft or proposal agreements, proposal resolutions on nomination, appointment or release from duty;
c.    Verified conclusions of the Government, adopted with regard to consideration of the published material.
In the coming period the Government will also be committed to affirmation of this Decision – government authorities will be invited to observe this decision and enable citizens to have insight in the documents under their relevant scope of competence.

6.    Electronic administration portal – eAdministration Portal – “All services at one place” - In 2011, e-administration portal was developed aimed to enable electronic communication between citizens and legal entities and state administration, as well as within the state administration. Electronic administration portal is a tool for government institutions and represents a single point where electronic public services offered by state administration authorities can be found. Currently, 19 (nineteen) electronic services provided by nine institutions are available at the eAdministration Portal, and they need to be upgraded further. Also, the portal provided for technical conditions required by citizens to take active part in creating documents and policies through e-participation.

7.    “Open Government” Project in cooperation with CDT – In cooperation with the Centre for Democratic Transition (CDT), the Government of Montenegro has been implementing the Open Government programme since the beginning 2010. In 2010 the programme was implemented with support of the Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD) and Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while in 2011 and 2012 the programme was financially supported by the European Union.

The Programme is aimed at raising the level of confidence of citizens in institutions through increase of transparency of work of the Government of Montenegro, increase of the level of information and knowledge of citizens regarding the institutions of the system, creating a direct link between the citizens and the Government, as well as preparation of a new HR base for work in government institutions and with practical experience complementing theoretical study programmes.

Under the project, the CDT prepared a comparative analysis of legislation and good practices related to openness and transparency of the work of the Government, and with the team of the General Secretariat they worked on implementation of quality solutions. The Government of Montenegro implemented a major part of recommendations for increase of openness and transparency that it received from the CDT, including publishing of information on the portal, adoption of new regulations for improvement of communication with citizens and increase of their impact on decision-making.

8.    Social networking presence of the government – “Government is where the citizens are” – The new way of creating public policies through wide consultations with all stakeholders from Montenegrin society created a fertile soil for communication through social networks. Taking into consideration that participation of citizens is shifting to online space which enables direct communication, these tools provide for valuable insight into the positions of the public regarding numerous important decisions and policies passed by the Government.

The Government, Prime Minister, individual members of the Government and ministries are currently having direct, two-way communication with citizens through social networks such as FB, YouTube, Twitter and blogs, and also communication with international public. Prime Minister is the promoter of this policy and by his personal example he invited other government authorities to be present in social networks.

Recognising the role of the Internet in promoting and creating public policies, as well as increasing of the social networking presence of citizens, in the coming period the Government will cherish and improve the communication with citizens through social networks by following the best international experiences, and enable citizens to take part in creating policies of general and public significance by providing their comments, suggestions, criticism, proposals.

9.    Public Consultations – “Decision-making citizens” – Public consultations are another way of engaging the public in the decision-making process. For the purpose of clear determination of cases and procedures for implementation of public consultations, the Government of Montenegro passed the Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Implementation of Public Consultations in Preparation of Laws. The process of development of this Decree and the Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Cooperation of State Administration Authorities and Non-Governmental Organisations was initiated by the Centre for Development of Non-Governmental Organisations (CRNVO).

Namely, in January 2011 the implementation of the CRNVO project “Active participation of civil society in the process of creating and applying public policies” commenced in cooperation with the Centre for Information, Cooperation and Development (CNVOS) from Slovenia and with financial support of the EU. The overall objective of this project was to increase participation of civil society in the process of creating and implementing public policies, while the specific objective of the project was to enhance the regulatory framework for participation of non-governmental organisations in this process. Therefore, an inter-sectoral working group was established to prepare the drafts of the above mentioned Decrees. In addition to the representatives of non-governmental organisations, the working group also comprised the representatives of the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Office for cooperation with non-governmental organisations of the General Secretariat of the Government of Montenegro. After the development of the draft Decrees, a public consultation was organised when many government authorities and non-governmental organisations provided their comments and suggestions. The Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Cooperation of State Administration Authorities and Non-Governmental Organisations was adopted at the Government session held on 22 December 2011, while the Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Implementation of Public Consultations in Preparation of Laws was adopted on 2 February 2012.

10.    Direct contact with citizens – “Easier access to institutions” – The Government of Montenegro established the Bureau for communication with citizens whose role is to provide assistance to citizens in communication with government institutions and in a short period of time it managed to intermediate with the aim of faster responding to demands of citizens, accelerating of the procedure, obtaining financial support and the like.

INCREASING PUBLIC INTEGRITY

11.    Free access to information under the possession of the government – “Citizen is entitled to ask and to know” – Free access to information is regulated by the Constitution of Montenegro. Also, this area is regulated by the Law on Free Access to Information. In the previous period Montenegro paid a lot of attention to improvement of the situation in this area.

12.    Media freedoms – In order to improve and foster media freedoms, the Criminal Code was amended for the purpose of further decriminalisation of libel. Development of media pluralism indicates a clear and consistent commitment, since grand challenges that are ahead of us are equally important for both the state and media, who must always emphasise and acknowledge the right of the public to know in their work. Still, the challenge remains regarding the resolving of the cases of murder and assault on journalists.

13.    Code of Ethics for senior-grade and lower-grade civil servants – Adoption and implementation of the Code of Ethics promote the ethical standards and rules of conduct of civil servants in performing their tasks aimed at creating of common good, achieving public interest and fostering confidence of citizens in the work of government authorities. Thus is provided a base for improvement of the work of government authorities and employed staff in performing tasks under the scope of their competencies, which are of significance for exercise of rights of citizens and their statutory interests.

14.    Prevention of corruption – Reporting of corruption is an important source for detecting and preventing corruption. For the purpose of increasing transparency of this area, the Anti-Corruption Initiative Administration is continuously promoting channels for reporting corruption and protection mechanisms, as well as good examples of corruption reporting, and organises opinion polls regarding the improvement of the situation. There are 12 institutions which have hotlines and which otherwise accept corruption reporting, and they are: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Sports, Judicial Council, Supreme State Prosecution, National Police, Customs Administration, Tax Administration, Administration for Games of Chance, Public Procurement Directorate, Anti-Corruption Initiative Administration, Investment Development Fund of Montenegro, and since April 2011 citizens and other interested parties also have the option to report corruption and organised crime to the National Committee for implementation of the Strategy for fight against corruption and organised crime, or the Secretariat of the National Committee.

In 2008 the National Police adopted “Technical Guidelines on procedures for reporting crimes with elements of corruption and protection of persons reporting such crimes to National Police”. In each security centre there is a police officer who accepts corruption reporting and the same is available to citizens 24 hours. Still, there is a problem of confidence of citizens who still rather report corruption to non-governmental sector than relevant institutions.

15.    Protection of persons reporting corruption – In the previous period Montenegro greatly focused on enhancement of the institutional and legislative framework concerning the protection of persons who report corruption in public and private sectors. The Law on Labour has been adopted and it expands the scope of protection to include all employed persons and it protects persons reporting corruption against any consequences defined by risk analysis. Also, the Law on Senior-Grade and Lower-Grade Civil Servants has been adopted and it enhances the protection of all persons reporting corruption; encourages corruption reporting; sanctions managers who use the measures of intimidation, restricting or penalising employees who point out the corruption. Still, the current regulatory framework and practice fail to encourage to sufficient degree the corruption reporting by citizens and employees in the private and public sectors.

16.    Prevention of conflicts of interest – The area of prevention of conflicts of interest, i.e. provision of information on public officials is regulated by the Law on Prevention of Conflicts of Interest. In the previous period, the legislative framework was improved based on international standards and recommendations of international organisations, particularly regarding the fostering of powers and independence of the Commission for Prevention of Conflicts of Interest. The Law on Amendments to the Law on Prevention of Conflicts of Interest was adopted and it incorporates provisions that: expand the powers of the CPCI and foster its supervisory roles, particularly regarding the verification of data submitted by public officials in the country and abroad; prohibit the persons directly elected on elections to be the members of management and supervisory boards; expand the definition of public officials; establish the value of gifts and the like in line with the recommendations of the European Commission and the Council of Europe; expand the “pantouflage” so public officials may not be the members of management boards or employees of a business organisation where such official (as an authorised person) invested capital or approved subsidies in the period of 4 years, and for the period of 2 years after the termination of the public function. Although the Law improved to a certain extent the manner of election of the Commission, this body still comprises people who can be under political influence, given that they have been elected upon the nomination by Political Groups in the Parliament of Montenegro.

MANAGING PUBLIC RESOURCES MORE EFFECTIVELY

“Transparency of the work of the public sector is of great significance for the systems that are subject to changes, when new rules and procedures are established. Transparency is of special significance in public finances. How much and in whose favour the state spends, how is it financed and by which instruments, what is the amount of public debt are only some of the information that must be accessible to taxpayers. The Ministry of Finance posts monthly and quarterly analytical data on generated revenues, expenditures, public debt and deposits on its website. All draft laws and strategies are also posted on the website.”

Conference for media at the occasion of marking the most significant activities
of the Ministry of Finance in the first quarter 2011,
Minister of Finance, Milorad Katnić

17.    Budget transparency – For the purpose of increasing fiscal transparency, the state administration authority responsible for finance affairs – Ministry of Finance publishes monthly Macroeconomic Review, a publication that keeps track of the trends of macroeconomic and fiscal indicators on monthly level. The idea originated from the need of users of data and analyses for brief and comprehensive reviews. Budget transparency remains a challenge for some spending units.

18.    Public procurement – Regulatory framework has been improved by the adoption of the Law on Public Procurement aimed at full harmonisation with European standards in the area of public procurement and full efficiency, competitiveness and transparency of the public procurement procedure. In view of improving the procedure for corruption reporting to the Public Procurement Directorate by third parties, campaigns and seminars are continuously organised, and a hotline for corruption reporting has been open. In order to provide for the access to all relevant documents the website of the Public Procurement Directorate and portal of the Public Procurement Administration are regularly updated, on daily basis and all relevant documents (invitations, plans, decisions, contracts and annexes to contracts) are posted on www.ujn.gov.me. The control of the public procurement procedure and particularly the negotiating procedure still remains a challenge.

CREATING SAFER COMMUNITIES

19.    Police in the community – The work of the police is a long-term and complex process and its carrying out improves and encourages the partnership between the citizens and the police, enhances the quality of work and professionalism of police officers, i.e. enables active participation of the community in resolving security issues and improves the quality of life of citizens who live and work in the local community. Police in the community is a transition from traditional to modern model of work of the police, based on the idea that police and citizens, through mutual cooperation should commit to the fact that the work of the police should be in the service of citizens, who will provide necessary support to the activities of the police. This strategy implies a change on the level of the system of police values: the key performance indicator of the police is not only the statistics of detected crimes and police actions, but also the level of confidence of citizens in the police and their sense of security. Through the work of the police in the community, the police gradually changes its identity and becomes a public service for citizens. However, it is still notable that the corruption and other deviant behaviour are much more reported to other government authorities than the police itself.

For the purpose of contributing to the combat against all forms of discrimination, the cooperation between the National Police and non-governmental sector and representatives of the civil society has been strengthening continuously. This is evidenced by numerous working meetings with non-governmental organisations protecting the rights of disabled persons, the Council for civil control of the work of the police and representatives of national minorities. Through various activities, the National Police intensively takes care of the protection of vulnerable groups and as such it has been recognised as a positive example in the region, so in 2011 it got the award “Friends of Justice” that is granted by the Conference “Justice in the Balkans – Equality for Sexual Minorities”. Police has a contact person for LGBT population, and so far it has signed and has been implementing the Memorandum on Cooperation and Understanding with NGO “LGBT Forum Progres” and NGO “Juventas”,  while the signing of the Memorandum on Cooperation with NGO “Akcija za ljudska prava’’ (Human Rights Action) is in the process of preparation.

INCREASING CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

20.    Encouraging dialogue and partnership for sustainable development between the Government and business sector in Montenegro – As part of the Project “Encouraging dialogue and partnership for sustainable development between the Government and business sector in Montenegro”, implemented by the Division for Support to the National Council for Sustainable Development of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (formerly the Office for Sustainable Development) in cooperation with the Government of the Netherlands (the Project commenced in 2011 and will last until December 2012), the representatives of local self-governments in Montenegro and business community had the opportunity to get acquainted with the best practice examples for corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in the Netherlands by attending a study visit to government institutions, regional organisations and companies.  Visit’s particular emphasis was on sustainable consumption and production, management of waste, wastewaters and modern packaging materials, being some of the key segments for sustainability of development.  In December 2011, as part of the same Project, first out of four workshops was held covering corporate social responsibility aimed at strengthening capacities both of the government entities and of the business and non-governmental sector to adopt appropriate legislative framework for this area and to apply socially responsible business concepts into own practices.

21.    Membership in the Regional Network for Corporate Social Responsibility for small and medium-sized enterprises – In April 2011, the Division for Support to the National Council for Sustainable Development became member of the Regional Network for Corporate Social Responsibility for small and medium-sized enterprises (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation – UNIDO).  One of the initial activities implemented was the development of the Questionnaire on Implementation of the CSR concept in Montenegrin Companies.  Results of the Survey will be included in the regional report to be produced by the Network.

22.    Development of a study/analysis on the level of inclusion of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept in the national policies of Montenegro – In cooperation with the UNDP office in Montenegro and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System, a round table with representatives of ministries, public administration authorities, as well as of the business sector and non-governmental organisations was held in December 2011, whereat the concept of the Study was presented along with the main conclusions of an intensive consultation process carried out during the preparatory process.  The objective of the Study is to propose measures for inclusion of the CSR concept into the national policies of Montenegro based on a current state analysis.

23.    In December 2011, the UN Global Compact network is launched in Montenegro.   The UNDP office in Montenegro initiated launching of the network, along with the support of the Directorate for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Union of Employers of Montenegro, Centre for Development of Non-governmental Organisations (CRNVO), Telecom and Telenor.  Nineteen Montenegrin companies, institutions, and non-governmental organisations have signed the UN Global Compact Charter.

24.    In December 2011, a first comprehensive survey on the status of corporate social responsibility in Montenegro “Corporate social responsibility in Montenegro” was presented.  Company DeFacto Consultancy carried out the Survey in cooperation with UNDP office in Montenegro, Directorate for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Union of Employers of Montenegro, and Centre for Development of Non-governmental Organisations (CRNVO).

25.    Government of Montenegro adopted the Strategy for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (2011-2015).  The Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy envisages activities to assess the level of development of the corporate social responsibility and implementation of campaigns aimed at informing and raising awareness of SMEs about the corporate social responsibility concepts, all directed towards strengthening the corporate social responsibility in small and medium-sized enterprises.

26.    In May 2008, CEED, in cooperation with UNDP, prepared the Baseline Study on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Montenegro, being the first comprehensive CSR study to map activities and companies, as well as other stakeholders engaged in the CSR and identify gaps in terms of capacities and relevant fields where interventions are needed.  On that occasion the need for additional work in education and raising awareness in this area was identified, as well as need to provide incentives to companies to commit to the application of the corporate social responsibility concept.  This Study is part of the broader project (CSR in the Western Balkans), its objective being to asses and compare the level of corporate social responsibility practices among companies operating in the South East Europe.