Cabinet meeting

Podgorica, Montenegro (28 Friday 2014) – At yesterday’s session, Montenegro’s Cabinet approved the Bill Amending the Law on Internal Affairs. The amendments are proposed as part of the overall activities towards implementing reform activities of the Ministry of the Interior and the Police Directorate within European and Euro-Atlantic accession process. The proposed amendments define specific powers of police officers and harmonise them with the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Government also adopted the Bill Amending the Law on Public Broadcasting Services of Montenegro aimed at complying this area with the rules of state aid in the field of public broadcasting services, as Montenegro, in the context of its harmonisation with the EU acquis, voiced commitment, as part of the negotiating chapter 8 - Competition, to implement rules on state aid for public broadcasters in line with the European Commission’s statement. The bill precisely defines services of public interest when it comes to public service broadcaster and prescribes for the obligation of keeping separate accounts for public services.

Respecting the principle of equality of all citizens and the need to preserve and strengthen the position of vulnerable groups, the Government adopted the Bill Amending the Law on Consumer Protection. The amendments stipulate that information on goods for certain products should be presented in Braille, and that the nature of these products, as well as the way of presentation in Braille, will be prescribed by the Ministry of Economy.

The yesterday’s session also endorsed the Bill Amending the Law on Accreditation, which continues harmonisation with the European legislation in this field, allows a higher level of cooperation with the accreditation bodies of other countries and completes the set of obligations arising from the full membership of the European Cooperation for Accreditation.

Considering the current situation at the University of Montenegro, the Cabinet tasked the Ministry of Education and the Secretariat for Legislation, in cooperation with representatives of the University, to accelerate the drafting of the Statute of the University, which should be complied with the new Law on Higher Education. Also, the Government tasked a working group composed of representatives from the ministries of education and finance, as well as representatives of the University, to promptly examine the issue of funding the University and present the comprehensive information on the current situation to the Government.

With the aim of providing greater security of citizens, the Cabinet postponed the decision-making on the Bill on Weapons. The session pointed out the need of additional broader consideration of the entire area within the scope of the bill.