At the meeting held today, members of the Committee voted in favour of the Proposal for the 2018 Budget Law of Montenegro, in part relating to the consumer unit the Ministry of European Affairs.

Representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of European Affairs pointed out that the annual budget for 2018 envisaged an amount a little over 2 billion euros, while around 1.5 million euros is planned for the programme Process of Accession to the European Union within the Ministry of European Affairs, which represents an increase of 300 thousand euros in comparison to 2017. The increase is mostly related to gross salaries and contributions at the expense of the employer, because by adopting the new Rulebook on Internal Organisation and Systematization of the Ministry of European Affairs, the number of directorates general increased from two to five. When it comes to transfers to institutions, individuals, NGOs and the public sector, it was pointed out that most funds were allocated for financing projects and programs of non-governmental organisations in 2018, in line with the new Law on Non-Governmental Organisations.

During the discussion, MPs were interested in adoption of the Rulebook on Internal Organisation and Systematisation, official travels, allocation of funds to the non-governmental sector, as well as other comparative data on allocated funds in comparison with the previous year.