Press release from 41st Cabinet session

The Montenegrin Cabinet, at its 41st session held on 30 September 2021, chaired by Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić, adopted the Draft Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes with the Report from the public debate. The necessity of passing the new Law stemmed from the need to strengthen the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, improve the procedure for peaceful settlement of both individual and collective labour disputes, as well as strengthen social dialogue in Montenegro. It was stated that the new Law creates conditions for successful business and improvement of business environment and contributes to Montenegro being recognised as a country with an enviable level of the rule of law, both from the aspect of the state and from the aspect of exercising human rights.

In order to create preconditions for improving the economics, rationality and efficiency of the bankruptcy proceedings, the Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Bankruptcy Law. A significant novelty of this legal solution is the introduction of a professional exam and a license for bankruptcy trustees, which will provide additional guarantees for their professional performance of duties. The register of the bankruptcy estate was also introduced, which was missing in the valid Law. It was especially emphasised that the adoption of the proposed Law is one of the important links in the fight against corruption and organised crime, because its consistent application will prevent potential abuses in the implementation of bankruptcy proceedings.

The Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Weapons. The main goal of this regulation is the transposition of EU Directive 2021/555 of the European Parliament and the Council on the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons, from 24 March 2021. The Draft Law, first of all, regulates the classification of weapons into categories and prescribes that firearms and their essential components must be marked with unique marking, which will ensure better control of weapon owners, as well as monitoring of weapons and ammunition.

The Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on Control of Export of Dual-Use Goods. The adoption of this regulation will create uniform principles in issuing permits for export, transit, brokerage and technical assistance related to dual-use goods, which will bring national legislation largely in line with international regulations and EU standards in this area. The new legal solution, in addition to harmonisation with EU regulations, implies harmonisation with international agreements in the field of export control, related to weapons of mass destruction and missiles, conventional military equipment, as well as dual-use goods exported to embargoed countries. Thanks to the simplification of export control procedures, the proposal of the new regulation contributes to the reduction of administrative burdens, which achieves the goals of the Government of Montenegro aimed at reducing business barriers.

The Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Sector Accounting. The proposed regulation postpones the application of the Law for 1 January 2024, in order to provide an adequate IT solution, which will support budget accounting and financial reporting, in accordance with the accrual principle. At the same time, conditions are being created for the application of the provisions related to the training and certification of accountants until 1 January 2022. 

The Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on Ratification of the Protocol on Amendments to the Free Trade Agreement between EFTA Countries and Montenegro, Amendments to the Agreement on Agriculture between Montenegro and the Swiss Confederation, Amendments to the Agreement on Agriculture between Montenegro and the Kingdom of Norway and Amendments to the Agreement on Agriculture between Montenegro and Iceland. The adoption of the Protocol and the accompanying amendments to bilateral agreements on agriculture ensures the maintenance of the already established cumulation of origin based on the Regional Convention on Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin (PEM Convention), but now, on a transitional basis, which will be applied in parallel with rules of origin from the valid PEM Convention, until the final adoption of the revised Convention. In accordance with the above, the novelties refer only to the rules of origin, and in that sense, in addition to the current rules, there is a possibility of applying the transitional rules of origin.

The Thirtieth Quarterly Report on Overall Activities within the Process of Integration of Montenegro into the European Union for the Period April-June 2021 was adopted, as well as the Fifteenth Semi-Annual Report on Overall Activities within the Process of Integration of Montenegro into the European Union for the Period January-June 2021, which will be submitted to the competent committee of the Parliament of Montenegro for consideration.

Among other things, the Cabinet adopted the Personnel Plan of the state administration bodies and services of the Government of Montenegro for 2021.