Eleven representatives of the Coalition of NGOs for monitoring the accession negotiations with the EU under the chapter 23, presented more than 200 new requests sent to the Government of Montenegro in the field of judicial reform, anti-corruption policies, promotion of human rights and freedoms, and sustainability of civil society at today’s press conference. The coalition will actively support and monitor the implementation of the requirements and regularly inform the general public about its effects.
As a representative of the Institute Alternative, a member of the Coalition, Dina Bajramspahic, presented the requests, based on the research of the Institute Alternative.
In the area of public procurement:
- Harmonize legal framework for public procurement with the EU acquis, particularly in a relation to the definition of the shopping process
- Commission for Public Procurement is necessary to establish an independent and autonomous body, in accordance with EU legislation, which requires that members of the Commission must be appointed by the Parliament of Montenegro
- In a semi-annual period prepare detailed report on irregularities identified in the procurement processes, running processes and their solutions, in order to determine the causes of the lack of final decisions and the sanctions imposed in this area
- Amend the Law on Conflict of Interest and expand its scope to those involved in the procurement process
- Stipulate by amending the Law on budget that the Reports on the fulfillment of contracts on public procurement are available on the website of the purchasers
- Improve the anti-corruption mechanisms within the Strategy and Action Plan for the development of public procurement system for 2011-2015
- Integrity Plan which is to be adopted by the state authorities in accordance with the Law on Civil Servants should identify all persons involved in the planning of public procurement, tendering, contracting and execution and control of contracts.
In the area of concessions and public-private partnerships:
- Harmonize the Law on concessions with the EU acquis
- Expand the content of a register of concession contracts in order to contain also repayment plans and debt, as well as financial reports o implemented PPP contracts and concessions. It is essential that the contracts and awarded concessions are available to the public
- Accelerate work on the legal framework for public-private partnerships.
- Improve the institutional framework for PPP projects and concessions.
In the area of public finance:
- In a short term- the Ministry of Finance should not reduce the amount of budget funds requested from the State Audit Office for 2013, and in a long term- is necessary to provide full financial independence of the State Audit Institution and strengthen its capacities
- The Government’s Action Plan for implementing the recommendations of the State Audit Institution needs to be revised. Particularly, it needs to make more effective recommendations by concretizing activities, introducing clear success indicators, determining realistic deadlines and responsibilities for implementing the listed activities. At the same time, it is necessary to build the structure of the Ministry of Finance to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the State Audit Institution and take care of their horizontal implementation
- Provide budget planning by objectives and policy priorities, by intensifying work on setting up the program budget through the development of performance indicators for all programs of budget users
- Edit fiscal calendar in the Law on budget in a way that the Parliament has at least three months to review the Proposal of budget for next year
- Accelerate the process of establishing a system of internal financial control in the public sector with emphasis on concrete results in internal audit and financial management and control. Publish consolidated report on internal financial controls as soon as possible in order to inform public about the real situation in the field of public finance control.
All requirements of the Coalition can be found here.
