Montenegro to continue the progress in line with the EC guidelines

Montenegro has achieved significant results when it comes to the area of ​​competition and the internal market, and should continue with the progress in line with the guidelines given by the European Commission in this year's report, was assessed at the tenth meeting of the Subcommittee on the Internal Market and Competition between Montenegro and European Commission.

Representatives of Montenegrin institutions presented to EC counterparts the progress achieved since last year's meeting in areas of competition, state aid, consumer and health protection, as well as reforms in the banking, insurance and other financial services sector.

At the meeting it was also discussed about results achieved in the field of company law and the freedom to provide services, intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights, as well as the state of public procurement and commercial law.



Dragica Sekulić, Darko Radunović and Osman Nurković, ministers of economy, finance and transport and maritime affairs, presented the results from the competencies of their departments, as well as the upcoming activities, and their presence in the meeting, as assessed by the EC, shows Montenegro's commitment to EU integration .

The Chief negotiator, Aleksandar Drljević, assessed that Montenegro through all the chapters covered by this Sub-Committee has achieved significant results.



He stressed that Montenegro takes seriously all the obligations from the negotiation process, saying that, in March this year, the Negotiating Position for the remaining unopened chapter 8 - Competition was adopted, and that Montenegro expects the invitation for submission the Position to the European Commission.

"In the meantime, we will not sit down with the hands crossed, but we will continue to work on further improvement of the results in the field of competition protection and state aid control, which is also insisted by the European Commission. We are continuing our activities to fulfill the obligations defined by the final criteria, because we really strive to achieve the standards necessary for EU membership, "said Drljevic.

Deputy Head of the Unit for Montenegro in the Directorate-General for Enlargement, Barbara Hesus-Himeno, pointed to the significance of this Subcommittee, which covers a quarter of the total number of negotiation chapters.

"Each of these chapters is opened, except chapter 8 - Competition, which is still at the table of the member states and being discussed. This year's Progress report gave guidelines to Montenegro for various areas. Good progress has been made in chapter 3, as well as chapter 7. As far as chapter 4 is concerned, the EC has assessed that Montenegro is ready for the next round, and in this context, in particular, we welcome the establishment of state aid authorities, "she said.

GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO
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