24 January 2019 - In the area of customs policy, Montenegro has largely harmonised its legislation with the European one, and the modernization of the customs service will remain a priority this year, so that, with a greater volume of international trade and raising the standard of living, Montenegrin society would be safe, it was noted in the debate on chapter 29 - Customs Union.

Today a public debate was organized in Podgorica on Chapter 29 and the importance of a customs union for citizens and businesses, under the EU4ME project funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP. 

Chief Negotiator Aleksandar Drljević reminded that Montenegro opened negotiations at the end of 2014 on Chapter 29 and that three final criteria for closing this chapter were defined. They are related to further harmonisation with European legislation and its application, as well as the progress achieved in the development of interconnected IT systems, which is a major challenge. 

"When it comes to Montenegrin business people and entrepreneurs, removing customs barriers will give an opportunity for unhindered product placement, which will facilitate the export of domestic goods to the market of about 500 million consumers. Networking of business entities and increase of exports will positively affect the trade balance and the overall business environment in Montenegro. On the other hand, our citizens will have access to better quality products from EU countries at significantly lower prices due to increased competitiveness," Drljević added.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, Aivo Orav, reminded that the EU supports the Government of Montenegro in the demanding and expensive task of establishing effective control at the borders, through the financing of the implementation of the New Computerized Transit System (NCTS), which is the basis for the establishment of other necessary IT systems, in order to protect Montenegrin citizens, public health, the environment and cultural heritage.

He pointed out that Montenegro has achieved a lot in this area, but further progress is needed in certain areas, especially when it comes to the implementation of measures to facilitate trade and work on capacity building of customs officers and the provision of adequate staff. 

Director of the Customs Administration Vladan Joković pointed out that increased volume of international trade and global threats, such as terrorism, organised crime and trade in dangerous materials, led to major changes in the roles and responsibilities of customs officers, which today represent the first line of defense against numerous criminal organisations. For this reason, the primary task of the customs services is to ensure the necessary balance between protecting society and facilitating trade, adding that the development IT system is a major challenge in this negotiating chapter, bearing in mind that a large number of financial investments will be required. 

"The work on strategic projects, obligations fulfillment in the EU agenda, simplification of customs procedures, further strengthening of cooperation with the business environment and uncompromised ties with institutions in terms of strong integrity are priorities in 2019,” Joković said. 

The panel on "Importance of Customs Union for Citizens and Economy" was addressed by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, prof. Nikola Milović, prof. Vladimir Savković from the Faculty of Law, Vice President of the Chamber of Economy of MontenegroLjiljana Filipović, representative of the company "Stadion doo Podgorica", Snezana Terzić, as well as representatives of the customs services of Slovenia and Montenegro Jože Kavčić and Tatjana Vujisić.

25 January 2019 - The time of the completion of Montenegro's negotiations with the EU, which have so far lasted for six and a half years, will also depend on how and to whom the Montenegrin Government will give economic citizenship. This new condition derived from the European Commission (EC) Report on the risks of investor citizenship and residential schemes in the EU.

"Concerning third countries setting up investor citizenship schemes, which may have security implications for the EU, the Commission will monitor investor citizenship schemes in candidate countries and potential candidates as part of the EU accession process. It will also monitor the impact of such schemes by EU visa-free countries as part of the visa-suspension mechanism," the EC Report said.

The part of the report on "third countries" states that candidate countries and potential candidates for EU membership "become more attractive to investors" given the prospect of becoming their citizens and the citizens of the EU.

This is, as stated in the EC Report, already the case as the citizens of the candidate countries and potential candidates have the right to enter the Schengen countries "for short stays," or for three months during the year.

“Investor residence schemes, while different from citizenship schemes in the rights they grant pose equally serious security risks to the Member States and the EU as a whole. A valid residence permit gives a third-country national the right to reside in the Member State in question, but also to travel freely in the Schengen area. While EU law regulates the entry conditions for certain categories of third-country nationals, the granting of investor residence permits is currently not regulated at EU level and remains a national competence,” says the Official Report.

The report maps the existing practices and identifies certain risks such schemes imply for the EU, in particular, as regards security, money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption. "A lack of transparency in how the schemes are operated and a lack of cooperation among the Member States further exacerbate these risks," the report finds.

It is expected, furthermore, that the countries concerned will have very robust systems for monitoring these programs, including systems to combat possible security risks, such as money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption and infiltration of organized crime related to such programs. The EC sent a warning to the possibility of suspending the visa-free regime to Moldova, which is the third country mentioned in the report. In 2013, Moldova signed an EU Accession Treaty with the EU to apply the visa-free regime that has been in force since 2009 for Montenegro and most of the Western Balkan countries since the following year.

24 January 2019 - At today's session, the Government of Montenegro passed the Montenegro Economic Reform Programme 2019-2021, as the most important document in the economic dialogue with the European Union. The Economic Reform Programme is also a strategic document for medium-term macroeconomic and fiscal programming, which also contains the accompanying agenda of structural reforms necessary for reducing or eliminating obstacles to economic growth and strengthening competitiveness. Montenegro's strategic development goal defined by the programme is a sustainable and inclusive economic growth that will contribute to reducing the development gap about the EU average and increasing the quality of life of citizens. The programme is entirely consistent with the annual Budget Law and the Medium-Term Budget Framework, as well as the strategic development documents of Montenegro.

The Cabinet also passed the Agrobudget for 2019 amounting to 52.4 million EUR (31% more than last year).

Customs Tariff Regulation for 2019 was also approved, which specifies the level of customs rates for this year, in line with the dynamics established by the Law on the Confirmation of the Protocol on the Accession of Montenegro to the Marrakesh Agreement on the Establishment of the World Trade Organisation. The basic changes relate to the reduction of customs rates and changes in the nomenclature. Annex I of the Protocol on the Accession of Montenegro to the WTO for a certain number of products from the Customs Tariff (mainly agricultural products) defines the so-called "the ultimate upper boundary restriction," which represents the rate of duty to be applied by Montenegro up to a specific date on imports of those products. It is stipulated that the reduction of customs rates will be implemented annually in the same stages, starting from the date of accession of Montenegro to the WTO.

January 22, 2019 - Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic dismissed claims from businessman and owner of the Atlas Group Dusko Knezevic who said in the previous days that he had donated €200,000 to Djukanovic in the pre-election period. But, he did not deny that Knezevic was the financier of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists. 

21 January 2019 - Prime Minister Duško Marković said that 2018 was the year of demanding and progressive work of the Government and continuous progress of Montenegro, especially on the economic level, but also in the development of European integration, and he announced that the priorities of the Government this year would be the continuation of implementation of the obligations from the European agenda, more intense dynamics and comprehensive action against the informal economy. Prime Minister Marković participated in a special meeting of EU ambassadors and Head of the EU Delegation in Podgorica and emphasised that they are witnessing the continuous progress of Montenegro.

"In addition to demanding and hard work, all the more visible effects of progress towards the European Union and membership in NATO are contributing to the quality of stability, which creates the space for us to dedicate ourselves unhindered to what society needs for sustainable development. In the year behind us, definitely a significant achievement of the Government is its economic policy, which continued to deliver excellent results in all the most important parameters. The growth of the economy in 2018 is impressive and equals 4.5% in the first quarter, 4.9 in the second, and in the third, it was 5%. The gross income per capita has also grown. In the past year, the unemployed were almost 10,000 less than in 2017. The unemployment rate has decreased by 4 percent from 22.1 percent, at the end of 2017. The decrease in unemployment has contributed to an increase in overall economic activity, strong economic growth, which has led to the creation of new jobs, that is, an increase in the number of employees by close to 7,000 at the end of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017 or nearly 12,000 in relation to the end of 2016"- said the Prime Minister at a meeting with the ambassadors of the member states of the European Union. 

Prime Minister Marković emphasised that revenue collection in the past year was higher than almost 180 million EUR, that the budget deficit in 2018 was 3.5 percent compared to 5.7 percent in 2017, and that according to the data of the Central Bank Montenegro, the total inflow of foreign direct investments for the twelve months of 2017 amounted to 659 million EUR, and in the first 11 months last year, 747 million EUR. 

Addressing the ambassadors of the European Union, the Prime Minister outlined the breakdown of the boycott of parliament and the beginning of dialogue within the parliamentary working group on electoral legislation as an important fact in the political agenda of the last year. 

"I will repeat once again: dialogue can be conducted only in institutions, where only citizens' interests are promoted and democracy strengthened. In this year, the priorities of the Government are clear: primarily the continuation of obligations from the European agenda with an even more intense and better quality dynamics. Our goal is to open the only remaining chapter, Chapter 8 - Competition, meeting provisional benchmarks in Chapters 23 and 24 and reaching our internal readiness to close the chapters. We have already made progress in fulfilling obligations from the last benchmarks in six negotiating chapters," Prime Minister Marković said.

"Our goal is even more accelerated growth of the economy and creation of new jobs through the realization of capital investments, with foreign investments, further development of small and medium enterprises and improvement of business environment. To achieve this goal, the Government will launch a comprehensive action against the informal economy this year with normative interventions as well as strong and determined actions of tax authorities and law enforcement agencies. Certainly, we will continue to be active in the region in supporting neighbours and transferring our experiences from the integration processes. We will continue to justify the position we have in the process of joining the Union, within the region and as a member of NATO with our actions," the Prime Minister noted. 

Prime Minister Duško Marković thanked the ambassadors for their engagement and contribution to the development of Montenegro and congratulated Romania for taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

"We know that during the presidency, Romania will have difficult tasks ahead, issues of the EU's multi-annual budget, Brexit, migration ... so we appreciate that among the priorities IS the issue of enlargement as well. We are confident that they will successfully face these challenges. I want to thank Austria, during whose presidency we have opened a very important Chapter 27 - Environment and Climate Change. Cooperation with the Three, which, in addition to Romania, includes Finland and Croatia, is an additional opportunity for us in the coming period, because all three countries are our friends and partners who understand the Western Balkans and Montenegro, as well as the significance of the enlargement policy," the Prime Minister stated.

The meeting was also addressed by the Ambassador of Romania to Montenegro, Ferdinand Findi, who spoke about the priorities of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, as well as the head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, Aivo Orav.