Posted on

Negotiations between Montenegro and the EU: Data access for the privileged only

The negotiation process for Montenegro’s accession to the European Union has placed a whole series of formal requests and recommendations for improvements to public policies before the country. Up to this date, 20 chapters of the aquis have been opened, of which 2 have been provisionally closed.

While when it comes to technical fulfilment of preconditions for membership the negotiation process can be described as improved, as illustrated by the large number of chapters which have been opened, negotiations are nonetheless characterized by a lack of results and restrictions placed on access to information about the process. Although the process of Montenegro’s negotiations with the European Union has been more specific and transparent in comparison to previous accessions, the following three important phenomena can be recognised as having contributed to the process’s lack of transparency:

- Decisions on chapters related to the fight against corruption and organized crime being made “behind closed doors” as a result of the “increasing” role of the Rule of Law Council

- Imprecise and biased reporting on the implementation of the action plans for chapters 23 and 24 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights; and Justice, Freedom and Security

- Access denied to the European Commission’s opinion on key legislation, as well as the reports of the EU’s peer review

Posted on

Vox populi – The key indicator of the state of affairs in the public administration

Institute Alternative (IA) has urged the media to pay extra attention to the content of the complaints submitted on their interactive website “My Administration”, since they abound with stories of concrete realization of fundamental human rights regarding the state administration.

Today IA has organised a presentation of the findings of the project “Public Administration in Montenegro: Equal for All”, financially supported by the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica, at PR Center.

“Within this project we continued the monitoring of recruitment and promotion in state authorities, but also, in cooperation with the Human Resources Administration, we have prepared a guide for applicants for work in state authorities. Strategically committed to make their work closer to the citizens by using modern technologies, we have also launched a new interactive website “Moja uprava” (My administration) recalled Stevo Muk, President of the Managing Board at IA.

“Public administration reform is not and should not be technical process that is being implemented isolated from the citizens, but has concrete consequences for them – and this is perhaps the most distinctive reflected when it comes to employment in state authorities” he added.

Milena Milosevic stressed that the IA has given a response to the question to what extent the recruitment is based on merits in the monitoring report published in April. Complaints submitted on web portal My administration only confirmed the key issues in the implementation of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees.

These key issues are: the elders’ arbitrariness when selecting candidates, irregularities in the aptitude test, dissatisfaction of the candidates who have been employed on a temporary basis and who have found themselves in a kind of legal vacuum after the start of the implementation of the new Law on Civil Servants and State Employees.

“The irregularities in the aptitude test pointed out by the candidates are particularly important, because we can not know what is happening on the spot,” said Milosevic, pointing to the example of complaint which indicates that the job announcements are “setup”, so certain candidates receive questions and answers in advance by state authorities who prepare them.

“In the first monitoring report on recruitment and promotion in state authorities, IA pointed to the omission to adequately solve the legal status of civil servants employed in public administration on a temporary basis before starting the implementation of the Law on Civil Servants, which made the safety of the jobs of these employees significantly compromised”, reminded Milosevic, pointing to cases in which individuals have been employed on a temporary basis for more than 15 years.

“Unfortunately, the civil servants who have lost their jobs because the state authorities illegally kept them employed on a temporary basis for years, have no legal foundation to seek protection of their rights because the competent institutions believe that the provision on the automatic transformation from fixed term contract into indefinite contract does not apply to them”, she added.

The lack of depoliticisation of Senior Civil Servants in the state administration was also pointed out at the event, stressing that senior managers are still more serving political parties rather than citizens.

Jovana Marovic, research coordinator at IA, spoke, among other things, about the reform of public administration in the context of negotiations with the European Union.

“Reporting on public administration reform in the context of anti-corruption activities under Chapter 23 is poor”, she stressed.

“For more than two years of commencement of the implementation of the Law, preconditions for its implementation at the local level have not been created”, said Marovic, adding that the public is not allowed access to the amendments to the draft Law on Local Self-Government.

“Regardless of at least 2,300 redundant employees in the country’s municipalities, local governments continue to employ”.

Representatives of the IA announced that they will continue to advocate the key findings and recommendations of the project “State Administration in Montenegro: Equal for All!” through their membership in working groups for amending the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees and the preparation of the Strategy for Public Administration Reform for the period 2016-2020.

Posted on

Announcement: Presentation of the findings of the project “State Administration: Equal For All!”

Institute alternative invites you to attend the presentation of results of the project “State Administration in Montenegro – Equal for All!”, financially supported by the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica, that will take place on 7th September at 11 a.m. at PR Center.

This event, in addition to presenting the key findings of the project, aims at building the capacity of the media to monitor issues in the field of public administration reform, particularly recruitment and promotion in state authorities.

The event will, among other things, provide an opportunity to find out about the most common problems that people face when applying for work in state authorities, worthy of intense media attention.

The problems which are a barrier to citizens to get the job based on merits, point to the systemic deficiencies of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, whose amendments are planned later this year. At this event you will also have an opportunity to hear more about what are the gaps in the legislative framework which counteract establishment of a merit based system in state authorities – one of the main goals of the reform of our public administration.

The speakers will be:

  • Stevo Muk, President of the Managing board of Institute alternative
  • Jovana Marović, Research Coordinator
  • Milena Milošević, Public Policy Researcher.
Posted on

Vienna Summit: Leaders and the others

Or: “whom has been given to speak, to defend, explain or keep quiet”

Bečki samit: lideri i ostaliIn the last few days, Vienna hosted the leaders of the European Union, its countries and the Western Balkans countries, in the context of the continuation of support to the EU accession process of the region, which was launched last year in Berlin. On the sidelines of this year’s summit, as a innovation compared to last year’s event, a Civil Society Forum was organised. With the support of BiEPAG, Balkan in Europe Policy Advisory Group, recommendations for regional cooperation, freedom of media and expression and creating jobs and prosperity were formulated and presented to the leaders’ summit. BiEPAG has prepared an analysis on bilateral issues which was the basis for drafting the adopted Declaration. Also, on the Forum day, in the eve of the summit, through working groups, representatives of civil society have discussed how to continue joint activities and monitor progress in the implementation of reforms for the benefit of the entire region. Networking and fellowship as the two essential components of the progress.

Forum in a nutshell? The introductory section was opened by the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and representatives of five small NGOs who have sent a clear message: Don’t ever again make decisions about us without us! The central part of the Forum was the discussion of five Western Balkans and the EU leaders and six NGO representatives, in an interesting arrangement – circle, surrounded by more than 250 representatives of civil society organizations and other guests. In accordance with a joke of two prime ministers – Vučić “fast” (and “theatrical”), Rama “furious” and concrete. The others (Lukšić, Han and Crnadak), have stayed in the shadow of reunion of Serbian and Albanian Prime Minister, re-organised the following day on the set of the TV show “Okruženje”. Panelists from civil society were a little bit more concise and direct. Unlike them, the discussion of the politicians was too extensive and barely interactive, which is why there was not enough time left for questions from the audience and a real discussion. Unless we take into account the wit of the listeners and extorted answers about the daily “Informer”, (not) freedom and control of media.

According to the speech of Deputy Prime Minister Lukšić, there is no any problem in Montenegro, enriched with everyday DPS rhetoric about the evidence that we are leaders in the region and encouraged by signing Border Demarcation Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina. So, what are the indicators of that success? Lukšić claims that, regarding the freedom of media, Montenegro is the best in the region. We know that it’s not, but, just to be sure, we have checked once again all available sources and indexes, such as Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders. It is not. Present in the room objected to this statement. I guess it was expected that the audience has a collective amnesia.

Science and education represent, in fact, the adoption of values, stated further Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in Vienna. Especially in a country where the Minister of Science was accused of plagiarism, and the charges against her were dropped because of the obsolescence, must be added. So, what values? Clearly, neither this event could have passed without the mantra “The Government of Montenegro has directly involved civil society representatives in the negotiating working groups.” In this way, from the very beginning of the negotiations, the Government is trying to prove that its relationship with civil society has progressed and became full of confidence. But, why not mention the selective access to information, limited reporting on the implementation of action plans, or the impossibility of accessing the decisions taken regarding the negotiation process? Neither the EU itself completely realises the essential role and contribution of civil society to the democratisation of the countries in transition, so the Commissioner Hahn himself has wistfully concluded at the Forum that it often seems to him that the civil society and the Government are two parallel worlds. In Montenegro they are, because the Government keeps civil society in this “gap”, with the EU contributing by arbitrary deciding what documents can and cannot be published in the process of European integration.

The answer to the question from the beginning of this text – “whom has been given to speak, to defend, explain and keep quiet”, borrowed from the great text about the novel “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov, is: always and mostly politicians. Even when they have nothing to say or give a mislead information or restrict the freedom of speech. The voice of the civil sector in Vienna was not shy, but it is clear to everyone that it demands more attention from the other side and concrete response / actions regarding the identified deficiencies.

Dr Jovana Marović
Research coordinator at Institute alternative and the member of the Working group for the Chapter 23

Text originally published in the section ,,Forum” of Daily Vijesti