Montenegro Report 2020
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 6.10.2020 SWD(2020) 353 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Montenegro 2020 Report Accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 2020 Communication on EU Enlargement Policy {COM(2020) 660 final} - {SWD(2020) 350 final} - {SWD(2020) 351 final} - {SWD(2020) 352 final} - {SWD(2020) 354 final} - {SWD(2020) 355 final} - {SWD(2020) 356 final} EN EN Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 3 1.1. Context .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.2. Summary of the Report ................................................................................................. 3 1.3 State of play of the accession negotiations ................................................................... 8 2. Fundamentals first: political criteria and rule of law chapters ..................................... 9 2.1 Functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform ................... 9 2.1.1 Democracy .................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.2. Public administration reform ...................................................................................... 16 2.2 Rule of law and fundamental rights ............................................................................ 19 2.2.1. Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights ............................................................ 19 2.2.2 Chapter 24: Justice, freedom and security .................................................................. 42 3. Fundamentals first: economic development and competitiveness .............................. 57 3.1. The existence of a functioning market economy ........................................................ 57 3.2. The capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union65 4. Good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation ................................................ 67 5. Ability to assume the obligations of membership ...................................................... 70 5.1 Chapter 1: Free movement of goods ........................................................................... 70 5.2 Chapter 2: Freedom of movement for workers ........................................................... 72 5.3 Chapter 3: Right of establishment and freedom to provide services .......................... 73 5.4 Chapter 4: Free movement of capital .......................................................................... 74 5.5 Chapter 5: Public procurement ................................................................................... 76 5.6 Chapter 6: Company law ............................................................................................ 77 5.7 Chapter 7: Intellectual property law ........................................................................... 78 5.8 Chapter 8: Competition policy .................................................................................... 79 5.9 Chapter 9: Financial services ...................................................................................... 82 5.10 Chapter 10: Information society and media ................................................................ 83 5.11 Chapter 11: Agriculture and rural development ......................................................... 85 5.12 Chapter 12: Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy ................................... 86 5.13 Chapter 13: Fisheries .................................................................................................. 87 5.14 Chapter 14: Transport policy ...................................................................................... 88 1 5.15 Chapter 15: Energy ..................................................................................................... 90 5.16 Chapter 16: Taxation .................................................................................................. 93 5.17 Chapter 17: Economic and monetary policy .............................................................. 94 5.18 Chapter 18: Statistics .................................................................................................. 96 5.19 Chapter 19: Social Policy and employment ................................................................ 98 5.20 Chapter 20: Enterprise and industrial policy ............................................................ 100 5.21 Chapter 21: Trans-European networks ..................................................................... 102 5.22 Chapter 22: Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments ................. 103 5.25 Chapter 25: Science and Research ............................................................................ 105 5.26 Chapter 26: Education and culture ........................................................................... 106 5.27 Chapter 27: Environment and climate change .......................................................... 109 5.28 Chapter 28: Consumer and health protection ........................................................... 111 5.29 Chapter 29: Customs union ...................................................................................... 114 5.30 Chapter 30: External relations .................................................................................. 116 5.31 Chapter 31: Foreign, security and defence policy .................................................... 117 5.32 Chapter 32: Financial control ................................................................................... 119 5.33 Chapter 33: Financial and budgetary provisions ...................................................... 121 Annex I – Relations between the EU and Montenegro ........................................................... 123 2 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Context Accession negotiations with Montenegro were opened in June 2012. To date all 33 screened negotiating chapters have been opened, of which three have been provisionally closed. Montenegro continued to broadly implement the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and the meetings of the joint bodies under the agreement took place at regular intervals. Chapter 8 (Competition), the final negotiating chapter for Montenegro, was opened in June 2020. Overall progress in the accession negotiations will depend on progress in the area of rule of law, as per the requirements in the Negotiating Framework. Progress towards meeting the interim benchmarks set in the rule of law chapters 23 and 24 will be key for further progress in the negotiations overall. The public political commitment of the Montenegrin authorities to the strategic goal of European integration is regularly and consistently stated as the key priority for the country and mostly also translates to policy decisions. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global shock that has not spared the Western Balkans. The final extent of its footprint in terms of loss of human lives and damage to the economies is still difficult to assess, but early estimates foresee a drop of between 4 and 6% of Gross Domestic Product in the region. Thousands of citizens are at risk of losing their jobs, and temporary government support measures (unemployment benefits, deferrals/waivers to tax and social security contributions, etc.) have an important fiscal impact. While the EU is itself heavily affected by the pandemic, it has spared no time and effort to provide essential and unparalleled support to the Western Balkans. This includes financial support of more than EUR 3.3 billion for countries in the region to address the immediate health crisis and resulting humanitarian needs, as well as longer term and structural impact on their societies and economies. Given the European perspective of the Western Balkans, the EU is also treating the region as privileged partners by associating them with the Union’s mechanisms and instruments. These include the Health Security Committee, Joint Procurement Agreements, Union Civil Protection Mechanism, Solidarity Fund, consular assistance in repatriation or exemption from temporary EU export restrictions of medical equipment. These and other measures have provided immediate relief and are a clear message of the EU’s political commitment towards the region. The European Commission recommended that emergency measures taken in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic are proportionate, restricted to what is necessary and limited in time so that rule of law and democratic and human rights standards are respected. 1.2. Summary of the Report Concerning the political criteria the reporting period was marked by tensions and mistrust between political actors and low level of trust in the electoral framework. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic parliament was inactive in the early months of 2020 and was subsequently dissolved, due to the August 30 parliamentary elections. No political party boycotted the elections, which were contested by 11 candidate lists. According to the preliminary findings from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) the elections 3 were competitive and were managed transparently and efficiently, but took place in an environment highly polarized over