Montenegro

The role of the Parliament indispensable in harmonization of Montenegrin Legislation with the Acquis

The implemenatation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) creates new roles for the Parliament of Montenegro primarily in connection with harmonization of legislation and monitoring of the work of the Government, as well as with establishing of a joint parliamentary committee for stabilization and association with the Europian Parliament. At this round table, members of the Parliamentary Committees and their colleagues from Slovenia had an opportunity to analyse relevant comparative experiences.

On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration at the Government of Montenegro, Gordana Đurović, PhD said that the precise number of laws, which Montenegro should adopt in order to have its legislation harmonized with Acquis is still not known.  “We will know in the next few months because we should define by National Integration Program how many laws we can amend and how many new laws should be adopted,” said Deputy Prime Minister Đurović.

The Montenegrin Parliament will soon ratify the recently signed SAA, the Bill for the ratification of temporary Agreements as well as the Visa facilitation and Readmission Agreements. A joint body for monitoring of the implementation will be formed out of the representatives from European and Montenegrin Parliaments. In this regard, Deputy Prime Minister Đurović explained: “Our next task is to develop a national programme for integration. The Government has sent an official request to the Parliament to appoint its members for the group that will work on developing of the first chapter dedicated to the political criteria sector. Through participation in this working group, the Parliament will contribute to the reviewing of new decisions from the Constitution, to the plan on how to implement and develop regulations, as well as to developing of the election legislation and parliamentary control over the Government’s work. “

Extending to the Parliament of Montenegro congratulations on the progress made in strenghtening the democratic dialogue within different political parties, Mr. Garret Tankosić Kelly, UNDP Resident Representative a.i./UN Interagency Focal Point in Montenegro said: «It proves the fact that robust democracies can withstand differing opinions and still be a counter balance and check to the executive branch. In addition, I think this is a sign that political parties are moving towards the resolution of difficult issues in an ‘European way’ – in a spirit of compromise and consensus, through the Parliamentary process. Now, the difficult, but the vital part of the process is ahead of us – the implementation. It is clear that the pace in which Montenegro will progress towards the EU will depend on successful implementation of all parts of the SAA.”

“In this regard,” said Mr. Tankosić Kelly, “the guiding and supervisory role of the Parliament is indispensable factor in making this a success. Having this in mind, in July 2007, through Capacity Development Programme, UNDP supported this specific project aiming to strengthen capacities of two important Parliamentary committees: for international relations and European integration and for constitutional issues and legislation.”

Mr. Tankosić Kelly also announced a number of international and national experts to be engaged through this project in the coming period with the aim to share the experience and best practice from new EU member states, but also to  help out with reviewing of different laws and policy documents which you will need to adopt shortly.

Talking about the experiences of Slovenia, Ms. Jožica Velišček, CDP International Consultant and former Secretary General of the Parliament of Slovenia said: “Association with EU requires cooperation of all institutions, especially the Government and the Parliament, as well as a clear authority division. The Government must be responsible for the process of harmonization with EU legislation, while the Parliament should supervise the Government. As the Parliament will never have expert services as the Government has, the minister should be the responsible one to guarantee that a certain proposed law consists EU directives.” Ms. Jožica Velišček also mentioned that the Parliament of Slovenia accelerated adoption of “European laws” by making an agreement to prioritize these laws over local political issues and by enabling their adoption through urgent procedure.

Mr. Primož Vehar, CDP International Consultant and former Secretary of the Committee for European Integration of the Parliament of Slovenia reminded that signing of the SAA means just the beginning of the path leading to the EU: “The obligation to harmonize legislation is key SAA article. This is now your international obligation although it is nowhere written that Montenegro will access the EU. Harmonization is neither copying nor ratifying, it is basic taking over of EU regulations. They cannot be copied and it cannot be said that this or that EU directive is now domestic law. Simple copying sometimes causes more detriment than benefit, because the law might not be used in practice,” Mr. Vehar emphasised explaining also that harmonization of the legislation must not be a pure formality but it has to include transformation of society in general.

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The Government of Montenegro, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) first established the CDP in September 2003. The realization of the new phase of this programme started in February this year. The CDP Supervisory Board is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration. The main role of the CDP is to contribute to the efforts of the Government of Montenegro to develop its institutional and administrative capacities for the European integration process.