Podgorica, Montenegro © lakofilms/Shutterstock
More than six years have passed since Montenegro started the negotiations on Chapter 22 on regional policy and, despite the efforts, the challenges to internally adapt to European standards persist. An interview
The operating mechanisms and practices of the EU “constitute a new ecosystem for us”, notes Irena Boskovic during our interview. Irena works as head of department at the Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro and has an advanced knowledge of the steps that her country should make before joining the Union.
What the EU and its member states have built in more than 50 years, the future acceding countries have to adopt and to a certain extent implement during the respective negotiation processes. It is believed that nowadays the EU acquis amounts to nearly 100.000 pages, and as time goes by, it will keep increasing as the EU institutions’ deliberation process goes on.
Montenegro held the intergovernmental conference on the starting of the negotiations on Chapter 22 back in June 2017, and six years later the process is still running. In practical terms, this chapter deals with regional policy and structural funds, namely the main investment instruments of the EU that will allow for the reduction of economic and social disparities between the small Balkan country and the EU member states. Therefore, ensuring the alignment with the content of this chapter is essential for the management of the cohesion and structural funds once Montenegro joins the Union. Beyond the technicalities, to date the major challenges faced by the Montenegrin institutions regard the administrative capacities of the civil servants at the central and local level, as well as the design and implementation of EU-funded projects. We talked about them with Irena Boskovic
To begin with, can you give us a short overview of the current situation regarding the negotiations on Chapter 22 of the acquis?
Last November the government passed the decision on the establishment of the negotiation working group on Chapter 22, creating the conditions for the continuation of the activities related to the implementation of the Action Plan that has been elaborated for fulfilling the requirements of the EU cohesion policy. In this regard, a new IPA (Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, ed.) funded project has started recently and aims to facilitate the next steps related to the advancement of the negotiations in this chapter.
What we have done in the meantime is work on the development of targeted policies, which are aimed at reducing regional imbalances and promoting social cohesion. EU funds have been channelled into various policy areas, including infrastructure, education, and environmental protection. Particular attention has been paid to building the institutional capacity for the management of structural funds.
Managing cohesion funds is not an easy task. How do you assess the administrative capacities of Montenegro?
Since administrative capacities are a very important segment of this work, we are investing on further enhancing the skills of the staff employed in our IPA structures as well as hiring new qualified staff, in line with the obligations arising from the IPA III perspective. However, the lack of trained staff remains apparent, primarily in the contracting authorities, but also in some units of line ministries working on project implementation.
The turnover rate of employees seems to be an issue for the Western Balkan countries. Do you have in place a retention policy?
We do not have a retention policy per se. But there is in place a motivation policy applied to the civil servants working on the management of EU funds, who receive a monthly surplus to the salary in line with the decree adopted by the government in 2018.
Besides staff capacities, can you mention some other challenges faced at this stage of the negotiation process?
A key challenge remains the establishment of a legislative framework and the institutional structures dedicated to the implementation of the pre-accession funds. In addition, I would mention the sectoral approach, intersectoral cooperation and strategic planning of these funds, which constitute a new ecosystem for us. Another challenge is the ability to prepare timely and high-quality documentation, especially when referring to infrastructure projects.
What about the level of preparedness of the urban and local authorities, considering that Montenegro is a small country…
We have a very good cooperation with the Union of Municipalities in Montenegro and they participate in most of the monitoring committees concerning the cross-border and territorial cooperation programmes. While some municipalities have invested in hiring new, qualified staff, others are still lagging behind. One component of the new project mentioned above, which is funded by the IPA 2021 programme, includes the support to the municipalities and their technical capacities.
Overall, how do you assess the level of absorption of EU funds at the national level?
When referring to the previous programming period 2014-2020, Montenegro has shown good progress. The country had access to a budget of nearly 279 million Euros, channelled into six sectors, among which democracy, rule of law and environment. In particular, I would mention our active participation in cross-border cooperation programmes, with 288 successful projects involving tens of Montenegrin organisations and institutions both at local and national level, out of which 202 projects are part of the trilateral programmes while the rest have a bilateral nature. The total value amounts to more than 57 million Euros. On the other hand, in the context of the Western Balkans Investment Framework - an important instrument for us and for the entire region - we got approved 49 projects out of 29 calls for proposals dedicated to technical support, amounting to nearly 66.5 million Euros.
Currently we are in the phase of drafting two multi-year operational programmes running during the period 2024-2027. The first is focused on environmental initiatives and amounts 50 million Euros, while the second deals with education and social policy and is worth 30 million Euros.
This publication was produced in the frame of the project "Programming the EU cohesion policy: exchange programme on Chapter 22 in Serbia and Montenegro", funded by the CEI Fund of the EBRD, with a contribution of Italy. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the CEI Fund
