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Press release on Cabinet's decisions made without ...
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Press release on Cabinet's decisions made without holding a session
Published on: May 4, 2020 • 11:29 PM Author: PR Service
The Montenegrin Cabinet, without holding a session, based on the obtained consent of the majority of Cabinet members, adopted the Bill on Amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Population against Communicable Diseases. The current development of the epidemiological situation caused by the coronavirus outbreak has indicated the need for a closer regulation of the behaviour of the population, employers and other entities in certain situations, in accordance with epidemiological indications and prescribing appropriate measures to prevent the introduction of infectious diseases into the country, suppress and prevent transmission to other countries, as well as to protect the population from infectious diseases. For the purpose of consistent application of this law, it was necessary to prescribe appropriate penal provisions and penalties in case of non-compliance with the prescribed obligations. Bearing in mind the importance of legal measures, it was prescribed that this law enters into force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of Montenegro.
The Information on amendments to the Business and Employee Support Programme was adopted in order to mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus epidemic and the amended Support Programme. In order to mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus epidemic, the Cabinet adopted a programme to support businesses and employees on 24 April 2020. Through communication with businessmen, it was noticed that the code of the basic activity in a large number of entities does not correspond to the real state, i.e. it is not the activity in which they mainly operate. There have also been a number of inquiries about how they can exercise their right. The Information states, among other things, that an e-mail address for support and questions of prospective potential users was opened.
Recognising that in the emergency situation in Montenegro due to the coronavirus epidemic, the role of health professionals is crucial and that they are required to maximize their involvement in the prevention and suppression of the spread of the virus, the Cabinet adopted the Information on overtime pay and incentives for employees in the public health sector for April 2020. The Cabinet approved the stimulus check of up to 15% to employees of the public health sector who were present at work during April, in accordance with Article 15 of the Grantee Collective Agreement for Health.
The Cabinet adopted the Information on the provision of funds for the payment of the variable part of the salary, for the month of April 2020, to the employees of the Police Directorate in the amount of 15 percent of the basic salary.
The Cabinet adopted the Decision on the amount of compensation for damage to the organism and in case of death of members of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, operational unit of protection and rescue and police and an employee of a state administration body while participating in international forces, peacekeeping missions and other activities abroad.
The Report on the Implementation of the 2019 Action Plan for the Implementation of the Public Information Strategy on the Accession of Montenegro to the European Union 2019-2022 was adopted, which defines 185 activities aimed at timely and accurate informing of citizens on the accession process of Montenegro. 160 (86.48 percent) were fully realized, 7 (3.78 percent) were partially realized, and 18 activities (9.72 percent) were not realized. The Report assessed that the activities implemented had a positive impact on citizens, which is confirmed by the latest opinion poll, which shows that citizens' support for the EU accession process remains stable at 66.4%, while 66.1 percent of citizens has the positive attitude towards the EU.
The Cabinet adopted the 2020 Action Plan for the implementation of the Public Information Strategy on the Accession of Montenegro to the European Union 2019-2022, which defines 165 activities. Out of this number, the Government or Ministries are responsible for 121 activities, the Committee for European Integration of the Parliament of Montenegro 3 activities, the Community of Municipalities and Local Self-Government 6 activities, the Chamber of Economz 7 activities, while the partner NGOs have 28 activities. The Action Plan for 2020, like the previous one, will be implemented in partnership between the Government, the Parliament, local self-governments, academia and business community and non-governmental organisations, thus confirming the commitment and importance of involvement of all segments of society in the process of communicating European integration.
The Report on the Implementation of the 2019 Action Plan for Recruitment and Human Resource Development was adopted. According to Monstat (Labour Force Survey for Q1 and Q2 2019), the activity rate of population aged 15-64 years increased from 64.3 in the first quarter to 66.7 percent in the second, employment rate from 54.5 percent in the first to 56.9 percent in the second quarter, while the unemployment rate dropped from 15.2 percent in the first quarter to 14.7 percent in the second quarter of 2019.
The Cabinet considered and adopted the 2019 Report on the Work of the Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education, with the Independent Auditor's Report on the financial statements for 2019. The quality assurance system of higher education in Montenegro is based on the European Standards and Guidelines - ESG, adopted at the 2015 Ministerial Conference in Yerevan. The Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education became operational and functional in September 2018. The report emphasised that 51 external evaluation procedures were implemented during the past year, namely the accreditation of study programmes, of which 49 were accredited and two were rejected. Ten higher education institutions have applied for re-accreditation, of which three have been re-accredited and evaluation procedures for the remaining seven have been started in 2019 and will be completed in 2020. In addition to the accreditation of study programmes and the re-accreditation of institutions, at the beginning of 2019, the Law was supplemented by a provision that falls within the competence of the Agency – accreditation of higher education programmes for lifelong learning.
The Cabinet issued an Opinion adopting the Bill on Amnesty of Persons Convicted of Criminal Offenses Prescribed by the Laws of Montenegro and Persons Convicted by a Foreign Criminal Verdict Executed in Montenegro submitted to the Parliament by several MPs. Considering the fact that the proposed law aims to contribute to the prevention of the coronavirus spread in prison, the Opinion considered that the proposed legal solutions did not undermine the purpose of punishment. It is emphasised that the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) of the Council of Europe, through its Statement of principles relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of the coronavirus infection (COVID-19) of 20 March 2020, recommended to all member states of the Council of Europe to make greater use of criminal sentence modification, early dismissal and probation.
Accepting the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, the Cabinet rejected the Bill on the Postponement of Payment of Credit Obligations of the Borrowers, the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Contributions for Compulsory Social Insurance and the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax, submitted to the Parliament by Raško Konjević, Draginja Vuksanović - Stanković, Ranko Krivokapić and Džavid Šabović.
The Cabinet, on the proposal of Prime Minister Duško Marković, appointed Aleksandar Drljević to the post of National IPA Coordinator, pending the return of Ivana Glišević – Đurović from a long absence.
For full press release in Montenegrin please click here.
PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO
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