Government of Montenegro adopts measures to boost rule of law, align with EU regulations, and remove business barriers

Podgorica, Montenegro (12 June 2014) – At today’s Cabinet sitting, the Government of Montenegro adopted several measures with the view to improving the rule of law and legal safety in the country, aligning with EU regulations by adopting new excises for cigarettes, and removing business barriers by reducing administrative taxes.

The Government prepared a draft law on administrative procedure, and the Cabinet members noted that the new law will provide for a more efficient protection of the public interest and the interests of citizens and legal persons in administrative matters, simplified and accelerated procedures, reduced costs, and modernisation of IT services. The new law contains less provisions and regulates in a more modern, simple, and contemporary way the legal protection in Montenegro, which, as it was concluded at the sitting, will help modernise public administration in general.

The Government also prepared the draft amendments to the law on excises, whose provisions envisage a gradual increase in cigarette excises between 2014 and 2019 by the adoption of an excise calendar for this period, which is fully in line with relevant EU regulations in this area. This will also boost budgetary revenue and help create the preconditions for revising the excise policy related to gas and fuel for commercial purposes and will enable for the reimbursement of the entire excise collected for mineral oils used for the maintenance of ski lanes and ski parking lots.

With the view to removing administrative barriers and creating a more favourable business environment in Montenegro, the Government prepared draft amendments to the law on administrative taxes, which envisage the reducing of administrative taxes in certain procedures.

The Government adopted the spring 2014 analysis of macro-economic developments and structural reforms, which contains the overview of economic trends for the last year and the first four months of this year, as well as macro-economic and fiscal projections and guidelines. It also offers an overview of structural policies and reforms with suggestions for boosting competitiveness, entrepreneurship, SMEs, and equal regional development. The analysis devotes special attention to the realisation of major infrastructure projects, most notably in the areas of energy and transport.

The Government adopted annual decision on budgetary stipends for tuition of a certain number of University of Montenegro students (1.640 undergraduates and 1.042 graduates), and it recommended to the University’s Management Board to adjust the admissions policy to the needs of the labour markets by reducing the number of self-financing students on all academic programmes.