At the Meeting held today, the Chairperson on European Integration of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Adrijan Vuksanović and members of the Committee voted in favour of the Proposal for the 2017 Budget Law of Montenegro, in part relating to the consumer unit the Ministry of European Affairs. At the Meeting they also discussed the improvement of work of the Committee in the new Convocation of the Parliament.
Members of the Committee were welcomed by the Minister of Finance Mr Darko Radunović, who, along with Ms Tamara Gačević, Head of Directorate for Budget Planning, and Ms Snežana Radović, representative of the Ministry of European Affairs, presented the financial projection for the following year. On that occasion it was pointed out that the annual budget for 2017 was envisaged in the amount a bit more than two billion euros, while for the programme of the Process of Joining and Accession to the European Union within the Ministry of European Affairs 1,271,904.32€ was envisaged, which represents an increase of 282,544.12€ compared to 2016. However, it was emphasised that the financial projection was harmonised with the new functioning of the Ministry of European Affairs, in the sense that it overtook a part of responsibilities of the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. In that respect, the representative of the Ministry of European Affairs Ms Snežana Radović explained that the increase mostly relates to the need for establishing new general services within the Ministry, in accordance with the new Rulebook on Organisation and Job Scheme of ministries.
Members of the Committee pointed out that the budget of all consumer units affected the entire negotiating process. For that reason, the MPs were also interested in funds planned for other ministries and institutions within the framework of meeting obligations from the EU accession process, and pointed out that a comprehensive insight into using these funds was necessary, bearing in mind that the Ministry of European Affairs was only coordinating this process. The Committee forwarded to the lead committee its unanimous positive opinion in which it was pointed out that the budget of the Ministry could be larger, bearing in mind that the EU accession process was one of the key strategic goals of Montenegro.
During the meeting they discussed the activities of the Committee which were not implemented in 2016, as well as the activities whose implementation is expected in January. On that occasion, it was agreed that the measures for improvement of work of the Committee would be considered in the following meeting.
