Montenegro's Cabinet session

Podgorica, Montenegro (5 February 2015) – At today's session, the Cabinet approved Montenegro's Programme of Accession to the EU 2015 - 2018, the most comprehensive document defining the government’s activities in harmonising Montenegro’s legislation with the EU acquis and further developing public administration in line with the requirements of the negotiation process. The programme envisages the adoption of 167 strategic documents, and 1,076 laws and regulations.

The Cabinet also approved the Agrobudget for 2015 totalling EUR 22.98 million, EUR 2.5 million more than last year. The budget incorporates a set of new measures aimed at supporting farmers, improving quality, increasing production volume, better education and easier standards achievement.

As part of higher education reform, the Government approved the Statute of the University of Montenegro, which is aligned with the new Law on Higher Education.

The government spoke against the Bill Amending the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, having been submitted to the Parliament by a group of MPs. The Government stated that the bill had been drafted without taking into account its fiscal impact and would enable abuse and violation of the Law on Budget of Montenegro.

The government appointed Vesko Garčević, former Head of Mission of Montenegro to NATO, as new National Coordinator for NATO to coordinate interdepartmental communication and activities aimed at increasing public support for the country’s accession to the Alliance. Former National Coordinator Nebojša Kaluđerović was relieved of his duty due to his appointment as Ambassador to Montenegro's Mission to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva.