Minister Pejović on TVCG : Chapters 2 and 3 establish framework for unhindered doing business, taking up residence, employment in any EU member state

Podgorica, Montenegro (14 December 2017) -- "The two newly opened chapters with the EU, their negotiation and final closure establish a framework that allows you to work, stay and to get hired in any other EU member state freely, said Minister of European Affairs Aleksandar Andrija Pejović while making a guest appearance on national broadcaster TVCG.

"What we give through these two chapters, their negotiation and final closure is precisely the framework that allows you to work, stay and ultimately work in any other member state of the European Union," underlined Minister Pejović.

He emphasised that Chapter 2, dealing with the freedom of movement of workers, allows citizens of any new member state, and thus Montenegro once it becomes a member of the EU, to take up residence, or employment in the EU member states, without any discrimination.

"This means that any citizen of Montenegro will be able to go to France, Italy or any EU country, and where there is no transitional period to be imposed, they will be able to take up employment just like the citizens of that country. This is one of perhaps the most important achievements of the European Union in the last sixty years. Therefore, that means the full opening of the labour market and the absence of any discrimination to prevent your admission into employment. That also means that Montenegro will also open up its labour market for citizens of other EU countries," Minister Pejović stressed.

Speaking about chapter 3, which relates to the provision of services, the Minister of European Affairs pointed out that the mentioned chapter is the most important for companies that provide services in various industries.

"Montenegro, which is service activities-oriented, will enable its companies to provide these services not only on the territory of Montenegro, but the entire Europe. This implies our companies to be more successful in attracting stakeholders from other member states," Minister Pejović noted.

Asked to comment on the European Commission’s working paper on the situation in Chapters 23 and 24, Minister Pejović said that the document has been published every six months, and that it is good for Montenegro to get an overview on how the EU, the European Commission and other members see the progress of Montenegro.

"That document was the basis for the decision to open the two additional chapters, so we can say that the member states were satisfied. This serves us as an indicator of what we should do to make ourselves better and how to get even better grades in that Progress Report in April 2018. In that context, our goal is to improve the part that relates to concrete results. These are, above all, the areas that the Commission constantly scrutinises, namely the fight against trafficking in human beings, the seizure of assets acquired through criminal activity and the area that deals with financial investigations, together with the fight against money laundering," the Minister of European Affairs concluded.

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