Minister Boris Marić meets with Nicola Bertolini and Mitja Drobnič

Podgorica, Montenegro (26 May 2016) – Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Boris Marić met today with Head of Sector for Regional Cooperation in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement of the European Commission Nicola Bertolini and Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro HE Ambassador Mitja Drobnič.

In the first part of the meeting, the officials discussed the agreement on fair and free elections. Minister Marić informed delegation members of the priorities in this area. As priorities of his work, the Minister cited increasing transparency of the Ministry's work and formalising procedures for receiving citizens' requests, through the reform of the administrative procedure. Accordingly, the Minister announced to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the public administration on a higher level.

The second part of the meeting was devoted to the Regional Housing Programme, under which Minister Marić announced the preparation of a detailed analysis of vulnerable persons who are in need of housing, in order to provide them support under this project. Regional Housing Programme is a joint initiative between Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia supported by the European Union and other donors. The programme will, among other things, provide sustainable housing solutions for 74,000 refugees and internally displaced persons. In Montenegro, there is currently ongoing construction of 276 housing units and the Nursing Home in Pljevlja.

The officials reached an accord on the formation of the working groups for drafting the Law on Social Entrepreneurship and amending the Law on Volunteerism. The Minister also announced continued cooperation with non-governmental organisations to improve mechanisms for recognising civil society functions and strengthening public policies.