Montenegro

Presentation of the Report on Transparency and Accountability in the Montenegrin Governance System

"The strength of the democratic form of government is its ability to establish a system through which state organs, i.e. the system of governance funded by taxpayers, enable all citizens improved chances to earn a living, to access affordable public services, and to enjoy personal security and equitable justice. Democracy empowers citizens to exercise their right to decide who will manage the system governing people’s lives and, in that way, it removes the elite monopoly over decision-making and the benefits of that decision-making" – it was recognized in the Report on Transparency and Accountability in the Montenegrin Governance System, prepared by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme in Montenegro, within its Capacity Development Programme (CDP).

The Report represents a final step in the effort to create a framework to assess Montenegro’s progress in achieving the political dimensions of the Copenhagen Criteria, which are considered to be important preconditions for establishing a system of good governance that can lead to adoption of standards necessary for EU membership.  The degree to which transparency and accountability exist in public institutions are fundamental determinants of the degree to which the institutions can deliver democracy, rule of law, and respect for human and minority rights – and, therefore, are the principal focus of this study.

"Many things have changed in Montenegro over the past ten years and the country has reached the state when it is ready to make the next step,” said Ms. Lisa McLean, Director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Montenegro. “We want to help you understand the EU integration process and to provide you with the instruments that will enable you to proceed with integration. That is why we wanted to see how to create a methodology that you will be able to use later in your institutions. We also wanted to see to which extent democracy exists in practice in a country that applied for membership in the European Union,” said Ms. McLean. She also emphasised that the Parliament of Montenegro could not exercise its role of external supervisor to the full extent: “Supervisory role is not strong enough due to the lack of legal possibilities of acquiring information necessary for the supervision, due to the limited capacities and resources, as well as due to the over-focused attention on politics and overemphasized efforts of the Parliament to control rather than to supervise”.  Ms. McLean said that the authorities want to restrict the supervision and discussion, which makes the opposition feel that they could not compete, which ultimately results with frustration. “Members of the Parliament are not able to adequately perform their duties, and often they put themselves in the role of a judge or prosecutor. The opposition has to take over responsibility to participate in the process and to question the work of executive and legislative power, in order to justify at any times the responsibility they were entrusted,” Ms. McLean explained.    

In regard to the free access to information, Ms. McLean said that information was something public that should be provided in public interest, except in the cases when the law clearly defines otherwise. “Here people understood that the Law on free access to information is the only way to obtain information. In most of the EU as well as in the US countries, the law is the last resource that you would use in order to obtain information. If somebody does not want to provide information, then that person would be punished. Media and non-governmental organizations are often criticized for the lack of objectivity. Media will, if deprived of information, find a way to obtain it. In the Report it was also recognized that the Parliament does not have enough information in order to supervise the way in which the money from the budget is being spent,” Ms. McLean concluded.  

Mr. Peter Hack, an NDI Consultant reminded that it was the duty of the Government and the other state organs to provide information to the Parliament and to respond to the requests for information. “All state organs are obliged to make information about their work or decision-making available for public immediately, or by allowing the free access. Also, more transparency is required when it comes to the budget of the Parliament.” Mr. Hack also evaluated that many of the adopted law decisions in Montenegro have missed to define the concrete details. ‘’Regulations related to the independent institutions are not sufficient to ensure their independency. There are some laws for which we could not establish if they define any sanctions or not. In this way a message is sent to the citizens that people who are sitting in the Parliament and/or are in positions of power can do whatever they want to,” Mr. Hack emphasised. Dr. Peter Hack is a professor of constitutional law in Hungary, who played a key role in the transition of his country from communism to democracy and, finally, to European Union membership. He served as a chairman and a member of the Constitutional and Judicial Committee of the Hungarian National Assembly for 12 years, as well as in a number of other positions in the Hungarian Parliament.    

Mr. Alexander Avanessov, UNDP Resident Representative/UN Resident Coordinator in Montenegro said: “The process of accession to the European Union is the driving force behind political, economic, social, and governmental reforms that create a durable foundation for democracy in many countries of Southeast Europe. For the countries of Western Balkans, the democratisation process and EU integration are seen as mutually reinforcing. “Mr. Avanessov pointed out that: “Montenegro has made huge efforts and indeed has made significant steps forward in overall democratisation of society and achievements in European integration process. The structures and the quality of governance are critical determinants for further development of Montenegro.” He also explained that measuring the ability of the Government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote European integration is one of the key issues related to state of the governance in Montenegro. “In response to this, UNDP Montenegro has spearheaded a project, which provided support for establishing nationally owned system and methodology for assessing and monitoring state of governance in Montenegro in the context of European Integration process of Montenegro focused on Copenhagen Political criteria. The overall conclusion is that the Democratic governance assessment should assist country’s political leadership to better target the reforms covered with Copenhagen political criteria and thus speeding up the realization of Montenegro’s overall strategic goal – democratic consolidation and full membership into the European Union,” Mr. Avanessov concluded.

Mr. Dragan Đurić, Chief Technical Advisor for the Capapcity Development Programme (CDP) said that effectiveness, efficiency, participation, transparency, depoliticization, professionalism and care for the interests of citizens, should be the characteristics of all the institutions and should provide better functioning of the governance system. ‘’It remains as a task for the Government, i.e. for the governance system, to ensure socially just society and conditions for the sustainable development. The governance system should also deal with the mobilization of the financial and human resources for further development and should promote private entrepreneurship, while at the same time promoting ecological standards and fight against poverty,” said Mr. Đurić.

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Jointly with the National Democratic Institute, the UNDP worked to develop governance monitoring mechanisms and conduct detailed assessment of progress based upon a set of measurable indicators to which all political actors should strive to attain. The aim of this assessment was to provide the government, parliament, civil society, media with a more incremental, action-oriented perspective of Montenegro’s EU accession path, and a tool to guide the creation and implementation of laws, policies and reforms necessary for integration on a level that transcends political polarization.

Many of the tools used for the assessment are qualitative measurements, phrased in a comparative mode – e.g., how effective, how inclusive, how strong – demonstrating that, in many cases, there is no tangible ideal, but rather a range from bad to good to best or from nonexistent to existent in law to existent and achieving its purpose.

These tools and indicators later could be improved, enlarged and further developed.  As such, these can be used as guides or benchmarks for policy-makers, political parties, program implementers, business groups and civil society organizations to help determine sensitive policy decisions, investment potentials or people’s sentiments in terms of approval or disapproval over government actions. In that way the established methodology and mechanisms of governance indicators in the field of political criteria for European integration in the future can be used for monitoring and evaluation of other aspects of governance in Montenegro.

The study looked at the Montenegrin legal framework and its implementation in practice through an extensive analysis of research, studies, and laws, as well as interviews with over 30 institutions, on the topic of governance applied to all three branches of government – executive, judicial, and legislative. The study seeks to answer the question of whether the legal environment and actual practice enable citizens of Montenegro to exercise and access power to achieve their interests. In the process, the study lays out the theoretical basis of ‘good governance’ and provides a series of recommendations for concrete action to help move the governance system in Montenegro along the continuum toward greater accountability and transparency. It concludes with the presentation of an assessment framework that all public institutions at any level of government and the public at large can use and adapt to conduct their own assessment.

The NDI and the CDP anticipate that public officials, civil society or government monitoring groups, and ordinary citizens can use the assessment framework as a tool to monitor Montenegro’s progress in adopting and implementing reforms necessary for compliance with the political components of the Copenhagen Criteria – preconditions for accession to the European Union (EU).  The project recognizes that the Copenhagen Criteria are not just a set of targets that need to be fulfilled; instead, they define systems needed to be put in place in order to meet the enormous challenges of being a member of the European Union – and not just becoming a member. This assessment Report serves as a baseline measurement against which future progress can be tracked by individual state bodies and public institutions to measure their own performance and improve their internal operations in order to meet the challenges of becoming a responsible member of the European Union.

In considering how the system of governance works in Montenegro, this study has concentrated on transparency and accountability as two important dimensions of good governance.  The study examines the question of whether each of the three powers of the state – the legislature, judiciary, and executive – are able to play a meaningful role and whether the legal environment and actual practice enable citizens to exercise and access state power to achieve their interests.    

Report on Transparency and Accountability in the Montenegrin Governance System (2MB)
Izvještaj o transparentnosti i odgovornosti u sistemu upravljanja u Crnoj Gori (2MB)