The second meeting of civil society on the implementation of the Reform Agenda 2024–2027 and the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans was held, with assessments that better coordination in reporting is needed, as well as more significant involvement of civil society in verifying the fulfilment of reform steps.
During the meeting, the content of the three most recent semi-annual reports on the implementation of the Reform Agenda was reviewed. Participants pointed out that, although certain information on the implementation of reform steps exists, access to all evidence supporting the Government’s claims is lacking. It was emphasized that data availability is limited, particularly when it comes to documentation that would enable independent verification of the claims presented in the report.
It was concluded that, before the formal submission of reports, higher-quality interinstitutional coordination should be ensured, in order to avoid differences in the understanding of reform fulfilment between the European Commission and the Government of Montenegro. Participants assessed that institutional capacities in this area are still developing, and that a “learning by doing” approach is evident. The need was emphasized for future reports to be less descriptive and more analytical, so that reporting does not represent mere administrative compliance, but becomes a useful analytical tool for monitoring and improving reforms.
During the meeting, it was clarified how the European Commission verifies the Government’s claims regarding the fulfilment of specific steps. It was highlighted that there is no formally defined mechanism for the participation of civil society organizations in the process of verifying the evidence submitted by the Government to support the fulfilment of steps from the Reform Agenda. Nevertheless, there is a recognized willingness and openness to include civil society, particularly when it possesses relevant knowledge about the implementation of specific reform steps.
The meeting is a continuation of our initiative to involve civil society in monitoring the implementation of the Reform Agenda, which we launched with a meeting held last December.
The meeting was organized within the project “Monitoring Reform and Growth in the Western Balkans”, implemented by the Institute Alternative in cooperation with regional partners – the Institute for European Policy (North Macedonia), the European Policy Centre (Serbia), Transparency International (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Group for Legal and Political Studies (Kosovo), and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (Albania). The project is supported by the European Commission and, in Montenegro, co-financed by the Government of Montenegro through the Ministry of Regional-Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations.