Transparency of EU Funds Utilization (ME0073)

What public problem does the measure address? This measure responds to the problem of still insufficient information of citizens, NGOs, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and other representatives of the interested public about the available EU funds to support the implementation of green policies in Montenegro, as well as the insufficient public availability of data on financed EU projects in this and other areas in Montenegro. Currently, there is no central database of projects financed from EU funds that are implemented in Montenegro. General data related to the implementation of EU projects is available on the website http://www.eu.me through relevant information, reports and announcements, as well as through regular annual information on EU support programs adopted by the Government. Additionally, day-to-day activities within specific projects related to visibility, with financial support from the EU, are a mandatory part of each approved project. The EU delegation in Montenegro, through the European House project, established a database on EU projects (https://evropskakuca.me/me/euprojekti ) which includes and provides a good insight into EU-financed projects in Montenegro, but still does not include all projects. All this points to the need to establish a national database on the implementation of projects financed from EU funds, where, in addition to basic information on goals, activities and financial resources, visualization of the location of projects, the degree of realization of their results, as well as the degree of utilization of funds could be incorporated.

What does this measure entail? The measure includes activities to inform the public about available EU funds in the areas of green policies and the implementation of the priorities of the European Green Deal, as well as strengthening the transparency of data on financed EU projects in Montenegro.

In what way does the measure contribute to the solution of the identified public problem? It is expected that through education on EU green policies, organization of Info Days and training for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, as well as creation of a public database on EU-funded projects in Montenegro, will contribute to greater transparency and visibility of EU investments in Montenegro.

Why is this measure relevant in relation to the values promoted through the OGP initiative? This measure is directly relevant to the values of transparency and openness of public administration, as well as the responsibilities of public institutions in spending public funds, including EU funds.

Additional information The implementation of this measure should contribute to the realization of the goals of sustainable development, especially goal 13 (climate action) as well as goal 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) and related tasks 16.6 - building effective, responsible and transparent institutions and 16.7 - ensuring responsible, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making. These efforts are complementary in fulfilling the obligations from the accession negotiations for chapter 27 (environment and climate change) and chapter 22 (regional policy and coordination of structural instruments), and the implementation of the measure contributes to the realization of the goals of the EU's green policies, i.e. the European Green Deal.

Budget 45.000 EUR

Activities

11.1. Conduct training on EU green policies (European Green Deal) Holders: Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, Ministry of European Affairs Indicators for the implementation of activities: - conducted five educational workshops on the European Green Agenda Required financial resources: EUR 5,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds February 2023 - December 2024

11.2. Organizing an EU info day (every month) for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs Holders: Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of European Affairs Indicators for the implementation of activities: Organized EU info days on a monthly basis Required financial resources: EUR 10,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds January 2023 - December 2024

11.3. Conducting training for applying for EU funds for SMEs Holders: Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of European Affairs Indicators for the implementation of activities: - Conducted 10 trainings for applying for EU green funds Required financial resources: EUR 10,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds January 2023 - December 2024

11.4. Development of a public database on funded EU projects in Montenegro Holders: Ministry of European Affairs Indicator: - created a publicly available database with basic information about EU projects in Montenegro (with visualization and map/geolocation of financed projects and the degree of utilization of EU funds) Required financial resources: EUR 20,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds September 2023 - September 2024

Action Plan Review

Commitment 11. Encourage transparency and utilization of EU funds

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Substantial

Commitment 11: Encouraging transparency and utilization of EU funds

Lead agencies: Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, Ministry of European Affairs

For a complete description of this commitment, see Commitment 11 in Montenegro’s 2022-2024 action plan here.

Context and objectives:

This commitment aims to strengthen the transparency of EU-funded projects in Montenegro. The EU is the largest provider of financial assistance to Montenegro. [88] According to Europe House (EU Delegation to Montenegro), since 2007, the EU has allocated more than €610 million in grants to improve the lives of Montenegrin citizens. [89] EU grants partly come through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). For the period 2021-2027, IPA III funding for the whole enlargement region is €14.162 billion. [90] For 2014-2020, IPA II funding for Montenegro amounted to €269.2 million. [91] In addition, Montenegro officially opened negotiations with the EU in environment and climate change in 2018. [92] The EU has invested €40 million in environmental protection in Montenegro, such as improving waste management, air quality, habitat protection, and upgrading the sewage network. [93]

Under this commitment, the Ministry of European Affairs will establish a database on the implementation of EU-funded projects in Montenegro. This commitment came from a proposal from an environmental CSO during the co-creation process to create a database on EU-funded green projects. [94] During discussions, stakeholders agreed that data on all EU-funded projects should be published, regardless of area. In addition, the commitment involves trainings on EU green policies (including the European Green Deal), monthly “EU info days” for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SMEs), and trainings for SMEs on applying for EU funds.

Currently general data on the implementation of EU projects is available at http://www.eu.me, which includes information, reports, and announcements. Europe House also has a database which provides an overview of EU-financed projects in Montenegro. [95] Projects can be searched by topic and area, date, budget, and user, but the database does not include all projects or aggregated data on these activities. Each EU-funded project must also have its own website, but there is no general list of all projects and no visualization of how EU funds are spent across the country or across funding areas. The new database will include basic information on goals, activities, and financial resources, as well as visualizations of the location of projects, the degree of their implementation, and the degree of utilization of funds. The database will cover all previous (to the extent this information is available), current, and future projects in Montenegro that receive funding from the EU.

Potential for results: Substantial

The IRM assesses this commitment as having substantial potential for results. Until now, there has been no aggregated data on EU funding or projects that received EU assistance in Montenegro. According to Institut Alternativa, the main value of this commitment is the possibility to monitor the utilization of funds compared to the planned allocation. [96] Institut Alternativa recently participated in IPA programming, where 20 projects were planned for EU funding in 2022, and only five were ready to begin in the planned period. This demonstrates a significant lack of capacity in Montenegro to absorb the allocated funds and/or poor planning. The database would give CSOs a better insight into what projects were planned and implemented in the past, which will allow them to better understand Montenegro’s current absorption capacity for new projects. EU funding usage also affects Montenegro’s national funding practices (i.e., the projects that are co-financed from the national budget). Lastly, according to NDI, this commitment could improve public trust in the EU accession process, as there is ambiguity around the spending of EU funds in Montenegro. [97]

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation

A major challenge to implementation could be collecting the necessary data for the database, as they span over a decade and include various sources of funding (IPA, EU programs, cross-border projects, Adriatic-based projects, etc.) from many institutions. A representative of Institut Alternativa noted that while the Ministry of European Affairs should have the data on IPA use, the burden of collecting the data for the database should not fall entirely on that ministry, as part of these programs are/were decentralized. [98]

During implementation, the IRM recommends the following:

• Support public institutions in providing necessary information to the Ministry of European Affairs for the database. This support could involve clarifying the scope of information to be published for each project on the database.
• Ensure easy searching of projects by different criteria and include an interactive map of projects. For the database to reach its potential of helping citizens understand the goals, scope, and results of EU-funded projects, the Ministry of European Affairs should ensure that projects can be easily searched, based on key criteria. Also, to enhance both the search and visualization of projects, the ministry could include an interactive map of the country where users can search projects by region or locality. For example, the Czech Republic’s database of EU Structural and Investment Funds includes an interactive map and allows searching by project name, region, city, project topic (i.e., transport, tourism, regional development, etc.), program period (i.e., 2014-2020), and the amount of the subsidy (by range). [99]
• Make the information on the database available in open data format. The commitment does not specify if the database will allow users to download data on EU-funded projects in bulk or if it will be available in open format. Providing the information in open and reusable format can help users understand broader trends in EU-funded projects in Montenegro. The Ministry of European Affairs could also link the information from this database to the national open data portal, particularly if the portal has a section on Montenegro’s relations with the EU added to it. The ministry could also learn from the example of Italy’s OpenCoesione portal. [100] OpenCoesione allows the public to monitor and use high-quality data on the level of implementation of projects funded by the EU’s Cohesion Policy and by Italian national funds.
• Raise awareness of the database among citizens. As the Ministry of European Affairs prepares the database, it could raise awareness among local communities and train civil society on how to integrate the information into its advocacy and accountability work. A potential example is “A Scuola di OpenCoesione”, OpenCoesione’s school program, which educates Italian students on using OpenCoesione to monitor EU-funded projects in Italy. [101]