Montenegro ACTION PLAN

Open Government Partnership Montenegro Action Plan

I ll insist on consistent application of the Law on Free Access to Informat ion. Expos of the Prime Minister Igor Luki, December 2010

OPEN GOVERNMENT - Government accessible to cit izens Prime Minister Igor Luki announced in his expos that he presented to the Members of the Parliament in December 2010 that he would strive for consistent application of the Law on Free Access to Information and promote the role of civil society in creating public policies. Soon after assuming his function, the Prime Minister affirmed the dialogue and open partnership as the basic guidelines of the wor k of the new Gover nment through initiation of the Consultation Days - a series of consultative meetings with the most significant social actors. During the Consultation Days a dialogue was initiated with regard to the key national issues and the Gover nment strongly committed to greater transparency in public administration, facilitating better access to information for media, civil sector and general public as well as closer communication between the Gover nment and all relevant social actors. Montenegro is supporting and will continue to suppor t and promote the culture of opennes s of administration authorities; it will proactively publish information and encourage citizens to exercise their right to access information, and also instil confidence in citizens regar ding the institutions of the system. It is exactly the commitment to these goals that guided the Government of Montenegro to get engaged in the Open Government Par tnership Initiative in September 2011. This initiative is a significant incen tive for implementation of the concept of good management in Montenegro. Also, Montenegro wishes to be a part of the global networ k and take part in exchange of experience and knowledge in this area. Given that the idea that this initiative is based on is the preparation of the Action Plan in direct communication of the gover nment and non- gover nment sectors, the Government of Montenegro implemented the entire process of preparation of the Action Plan in cooperation with the representatives of the USA Embass y in Montenegro and support and contribution of non-governmental organisations which expressed their interest through active participation. The Government of Montenegro has already recognised the significance of cooperation and establishment of partnerships with non- governmental organisations for further development of Montenegro and its process of association to the European Union; therefore in 2009 it adopted the Cooperation Strategy between the Government of Montenegro and non-governmental organisations. In addition to building a democratic and open society, the Strategy also defines the improvement of transparency of work of administration authorities, preservation of independence and significance of the role of NGO, creation of partnership relations be tween NGO and government institutions, creation of institutional mechanisms for improvement and further development of cooperation and mutual communication and improvement of work conditions for NGO. Thus the position regarding the significance of the role of non-governmental organisations and mutual cooperation as an assumption for overall development of Montenegro as a democratic and open state is clearly pointed out. Increase of openness of the wor k of government authorities, cherishing the transparency principle in engagement of NGO in processes of creating public policy acts, joint projects and presentations contributed to better understanding and closer cooperation of the Government and civil society recognition of the need for joint actions and strengthening of confidence in each other. NGO representatives are members of the Wor king Groups for preparation of regulator y frameworks, consultative and advisor y bodies such as: Anti -Discrimination Council, Council for Childrens Rights, Council for Care for Disabled Persons, Commission for Allocation of the Part of Revenues from Games of Chance, Commission for Monitoring the Results of the Fight against Organised Crime and Corr uption, National Council for Sustainable Development. Montenegro formally established and improved the regulator y framewor k for NGO operations in Montenegro through adoption of the new Law on Non-Governmental Organisations, the Decree on the Manner and
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Procedure for Cooperation between the State Administration Authorities and NGO, and the Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Implementation of Public Consultations in Preparation of Laws, the Decision on Establishment of the Council for Cooperation between the Gover nment of Montenegro and Non-Governmental Organisations and the like. In terms of Euro-Atlantic integration, Montenegro is a specific example in the domain of process of integration in the European Union, which is reflected in establishment of work teams for negotiation chapters 23 and 24 where 6 NGO representatives take part, w hich is the first case in the region that NGO representatives are formally appointed as wor king group members. For the purpose of preparation and subsequent evaluation and monitoring of implementation of the measures from the Action Plan, the Gover nment has formed an Operational Team for development and implementation of the measures from the Action Plan in line wi th the principles of Open Government Par tnership. The Operational Team consists of the representatives of the Gover nment of Montenegro and representatives of the Centre for Democratic Transition, the Networ k for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector, the Alternativa Institute and the Centre for Development of Non-Gover nmental Or ganisations and it is assigned to prepare and draft the Action Plan in line with the principles of Open Government Partnership, promote the activities related to development of the Action Plan, evaluate and monitor the implementation of the measures from the Action Plan, and repor t on quarterly basis on implementation of the measures from the A ction Plan. Joining the Open Government Partnership Initiative is a clear message that reforms that we are implementing are not being implemented for the sake of fulfilling the assigned conditions but for the sake of improving the quality of life of Montenegrin citizens. This Action Plan represents the review of activities that are in initial or development phase in Monte negro, which Montenegro will focus on in the future period and place them at the top of its priority list.

Montenegro efforts to date

IMPROVING PUBL IC SERVICES Modern economies and societies require regulator y measures to suppor t the growth, investments, innovations, market openness and foster the rule of law. Good regulation improves the quality of life and social cohesion through greater transparency and better cooperation of citizens, non-governmental institutions and gover nment bodies. Weak regulator y environment undermines market competitiveness and confidence of citizens in the Government, and encourages corruption. Regulator y reform should support structural reforms and competitiveness of our economy and facilitate dynamic development of private sector. In this context the application of the new public administration reform strategy is of grand importance. 1. Impr ovement of business environment Given that one of the pillars of Montenegrin economic policy is enhancement of business environment, Montenegro has been implementing relevant doing business reforms continuously. For the purpose of increasing transparency of the work of gover nment authorities the following activities were completed in the previous period: a. One Stop Gover nment was established for registration of businesses, which facilitates the legal entities to register their businesses, apply for general tax registration, be assigned VAT, excise and customs number at a single place. b. Bankruptcy Law was adopted, which defines the basic bankruptcy principles and affirms the urgency and efficiency principle of bankr uptcy procedure which has been achieved through clear indication and shor tening of deadlines for taking actions by all bankruptcy procedure authorities, particularly bankr uptcy judge and bankruptcy administrator. c. The Law on Enforcement and Security was adopted, whose implementation will eliminate the flaws of the existing enforcement system and its inefficiency, w hich is reflected in a significant number of backlog cases, duration of the procedure, disputes regarding collection of claims and
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other, and improve the issue of future enforcement ser vice through public enforcement officers and apply the recommendations of the Council of Europe. d. The procedures for issue of construction permits were simplified through amendments to a set of laws. Also, One Stop Government was established in the line ministry and the local selfgover nment authority for issue of minimum-technical requirements and construction permits. e. Efficiency in the w ork of cadastre authorities increased. 2. Public administration refor m Montenegro Public Administration Reform Strategy for the period 2011-2016 AURUM defines the process of public administration reform as a long-term developmental process which implies continuous improvement and enhancement of this system. This Strategy envisages that one of the directions of the reform will be the improvement of inspection system through establishment of adequate organisation, specification of powers and fostering of personnel and technical capacities of inspection authorities. Regulatory Impact A ssessment In view of enhancing its business environment Montenegro created administrative and institutional assumptions and introduced Regulator y Impact Assessment in Montenegrin regulatory system. Regulatory Impact Assessment RIA is a process of several steps aimed at providing analytical and systematic responses to the question if regulatory intervention is required and if so, w hich of the potential regulator y options is the best solution for the problem. Namely, Regulatory Impact Assessment is a detailed analysis of the impact of regulations on citizens, economy, state administration... Formally, RIA was introduced in the Montenegrin regulator y system by the Rules of Procedure of the Government of Montenegro of 1 January 2012. Regulatory Guillotine Regulatory Guillotine is an analysis of the regulatory framewor k in Montenegro from the aspect of its impact on economy and citize ns, which will be followed with some regulations being repealed and some amended. During the previous two years Montenegro completed the first and the second phase of the project, which implied inventor y, collecting and analysing of regulations, when 690 regulations and 320 administrative procedures were analysed. As a result of the analysis, the consultants of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) prepared about 1750 recommendations that were sent to economic associations and competent state admini stration authorities for suggestions. In cooperation with line authorities responsible for regulations covered by recommendations, the representatives of the Ministry of Finance considered the same in details, for the purpose of producing the final wording of recommendations. Currently, the Ministr y of Finance is in the final stage of negotiations with line ministries regarding the recommendations and is preparing the Action Plan for implementation of the recommendations. Decision on publishing materials from Government sessions As soon as cit izens Following the principle of openness and transparency, on 7 July 2011 the passed the Decision on publishing materials from Government sessions so the interested be facilitated quicker access to documents adopted by the Government. In line with this Government publishes: a. b. possible to Gover nment public would Decision, the

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Proposal agenda for Government sessions; Material that the Government considers at the session if the same is not subject to a specific level of secrecy in line with law: draft laws, bills, public cons ultation repor ts, proposal decrees, decisions, strategies, plans, reports and briefs, draft or proposal agreements, proposal resolutions on nomination, appointment or release from duty; Verified conclusions of the Government, adopted with regard to consideration of the published material.

In the coming period the Government will also be committed to affirmation of this Decision gover nment authorities will be invited to obser ve this decision and enable citizens to have insight in the documents under their relevant scope of competence. 6. Electronic administration portal eAdministration Portal All services at one place - In 2011, e-administration portal was developed aimed to enable electronic communication between

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citizens and legal entities and state administration, as well as within the state administration. Electronic administration por tal is a tool for government institutions and represents a single point where electronic public ser vices offered by state administration authorities can be found. Curre ntly, 19 (nineteen) electronic ser vices provided by nine institutions are available at the eAdministration Portal, and they need to be upgraded further. Also, the portal provided for technical conditions required by citizens to take active part in creating documents and policies through e-participation. 7. Open Government Project in cooperat ion wit h CDT In cooperation with the Centre for Democratic Transition (CDT), the Government of Montenegro has been implementing the Open Government programme since the beginning 2010. In 2010 the programme was implemented with suppor t of the Balkan Trust for Democracy (BT D) and Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while in 2011 and 2012 the programme was financially supported by the European Union.

The Programme is aimed at raising the level of confidence of citizens in institutions through increase of transparency of work of the Government of Montenegro, increase of the level of information and knowledge of citizens regarding the institutions of the system, creating a direct link between the citizens and the Government, as well as preparation of a new HR base for work in government institutions and with practical experience complementing theoretical study programmes. Under the project, the CDT prepared a comparative analysis of legislation and good practices related to openness and transparency of the work of the Government, and with the team of the General Secretariat they worked on implementation of quality solutions. The Government of Montenegro implemented a major par t of recommendations for increase of openness and transparency that it received from the CDT, including publishing of information on the portal, adoption of new regulations for improvement of communication with citizens and increase of their impact on decision-making. 8. Social networ king presence of the government Government is where t he cit izens are The new way of creating public policies through wide consultations with all stakeholders from Montenegrin society created a fertile soil for communication through social netw orks. Taking into consideration that participation of citizens is shifting to online space which enables direct communication, these tools provide for valuable insight into the positions of the public regarding numerous important decisions and policies passed by the Gover nment.

The Government, Prime Minister, individual members of the Government and ministries are currently having direct, tw o-way communication with citizens through social networks such as FB, YouTube, Twitter and blogs, and also communication with international public. Prime Minister is the promoter of this policy an d by his personal example he invited other government authorities to be present in social networ ks. Recognising the role of the Inter net in promoting and creating public policies, as well as increasing of the social networ king presence of citizens, in the coming period the Gover nment will cherish and improve the communication with citizens through social networks by following the best international experiences, and enable citizens to take par t in creating policies of general and public significance by providing their comments, suggestions, criticism, proposals. 9. Public Consultations Decision- making cit izens Public consultations are another way of engaging the public in the decision-making process. For the pur pose of clear determination of cases and procedures for implementation of public consultations, the Government of Montenegro passed the Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Implementation of Public Consultations in Preparation of Laws. The process of development of this Decree and the Decree on the Manner and Pr ocedure of Cooperation of State Administration Authorities and Non-Governmental Organisations was initiated by the Centre for Development of Non-Governmental Organisations (CRNVO). Namely, in January 2011 the implementation of the CRNVO project Active par ticipation of civil society in the process of creating and applying public policies commenced in cooperation with the Centre for Information, Cooperation and Development (CNVOS) from Slovenia and with financial suppor t of the EU. The overall
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objective of this project was to increase participation of civil society in the process of creating and implementing public policies, while the specific objective of the project was to enhance the regulator y framework for participation of non-governmental or ganisations in this process. T herefore, an inter -sectoral working group was established to prepare the drafts of the above mentioned Decrees. In addition to the representatives of non-governmental organisations, the working group also comprised the representatives of the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Office for cooperation with non-governmental organisations of the General Secretariat of the Government of Montenegro. After the development of the draft Decrees, a public consultation was organised when many government authorities and non-governmental organisations provided their comments and suggestions. T he Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Cooperation of State Administration Authorities and Non-Gover nmental Or ganisations was adopted at the Government session held on 22 December 2011, while the Decree on the Manner and Procedure of Implementation of Pu blic Consultations in Preparation of Laws was adopted on 2 Februar y 2012. 10. Direct contact with cit izens Easier access to institut ions The Government of Montenegro established the Bureau for communication with citizens whose role is to provide assista nce to citizens in communication with government institutions and in a short period of time it managed to intermediate with the aim of faster responding to demands of citizens, accelerating of the procedure, obtaining financial support and the like.

INCREASING PUBL IC INTEGR ITY 11. Free access to infor mation under the possession of the government Citizen is ent itled to ask and to know Free access to information is regulated by the Constitution of Montenegro. Also, this area is regulated by the Law on Free Access to Information. In the previous period Montenegro paid a lot of attention to improvement of the situation in this area. 12. Media freedoms In order to improve and foster media freedoms, the Criminal Code was amended for the purpose of fur ther decriminalisation of libel. Development of media pluralism indicates a clear and consistent commitment, since grand challenges that are ahead of us are equally important for both the state and media, w ho must always emphasise and acknowledge the right of the public to know in their wor k. Still, the challenge remains regarding the resolving of the cases of mur der and assault on journalists. 13. Code of Ethics for senior-grade and lower-grade civ il servants Adoption and implementation of the Code of Ethics promote the ethical standards and r ules of conduct of civil ser vants in per forming their tasks aimed at creating of common good, achieving public interest and fostering confidence of citizens in the work of government authorities. Thus is provided a base for improvement of the wor k of gover nment authorities and employed staff in performing tasks under the scope of their competencies, which are of significance for exercise of rights of citizens and their statutory interests . 14. Prevention of corrupt ion Repor ting of corruption is an important source for detecting and preventing corruption. For the purpose of increasing transparency of this area, the Anti -Corruption Initiative Administration is continuously promoting channels for reporting corruption and protection mechanisms, as well as good examples of corruption repor ting, and organises opinion polls regarding the improvement of the situation. There are 12 institutions which have hotlines and which otherwise accept corruption reporting, and they are: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Sports, Judicial Council, Supreme State Prosecution, National Police, Customs Administration, Tax Administration, Administration for Games of Chance, Public Procurement Directorate, Anti -Corruption Initiative Administration, Investment Development Fund of Montenegro, and since April 2011 citizens and other interested parties also have the option to report corruption and organised crime to the National Committee for implementation of the Strategy for fight against corruption a nd or ganised crime, or the Secretariat of the National Committee.

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In 2008 the National Police adopted Technical Guidelines on procedures for reporting crimes with elements of corruption and protection of persons reporting such crimes to National Police. In each security centre there is a police officer who accepts corruption reporting and the same is available to citizens 24 hours. Still, there is a problem of confidence of citizens who still rather report corruption to non-governmental sector than relevant institutions. 15. Protection of persons reporting corrupt ion In the previous period Montenegro greatly focused on enhancement of the institutional and legislative framew ork concer ning the protection of persons who report corruption in public and private sectors. The Law on Labour has been adopted and it expands the scope of protection to include all employed persons and it protects persons reporting corruption against any consequences defined by risk analysis. Also, the Law on Senior-Grade and Lower-Grade Civil Servants has been adopted and it enhances the protection of all persons reporting corruption; encourages corruption reporting; sanctions managers who use the measures of intimidation, restricting or penalising employees who point out the corruption. Still, the current regulator y framewor k and practice fail to encourage to sufficient degree the corruption repor ting by citizens and employees in the private and public sectors. 16. Prevention of conflicts of interest The area of prevention of conflicts of interest, i.e. provision of information on public officials is regulated by the Law on Prevention of Conflicts of Interest. In the previous period, the legislative framew ork was improved based on inter national standar ds and recommendations of international organisations, particularly regarding the fostering of powers and independence of the Commission for Prevention of Conflicts of Interest. The Law on Amendments to the Law on Prevention of Conflicts of Interest was adopted and it incorporates provisions t hat: expand the powers of the CPCI and foster its supervisor y roles, particularly regarding the verification of data submitted by public officials in the country and abroad; pr ohibit the persons directly elected on elections to be the members of management and super visory boar ds; expand the definition of public officials; establish the value of gifts and the like in line with the recommendations of the European Commission and the Council of Europe; expand the pantouflage so public officials may not be the members of management boards or employees of a business organisation w here such official (as an authorised person) invested capital or approved subsidies in the period of 4 years, and for the period of 2 years after the termination of the public function. Although the Law improved to a certain extent the manner of election of the Commission, this body still comprises people who can be under political influence, given that they have been elected upon the nomination by Political Groups in the Parliament of Montenegro.

MA NA GING PUBLIC RESOURCES MORE EFFECTIVELY

Transparency of the work of the public sector is of great significance for the systems that are subject to changes, when new rules and procedures are established. Transparency is of special significance in public finances. How much and in whose favour the state spends, how is it financed and by which instruments, what is the amount of public debt are only some of the information that must be accessible to taxpayers. The Ministry of Finance posts monthly and quarterly analytical data on generated revenues, expenditures, public debt and deposits on its website. All draft laws and strategies are also posted on the website . Conference for media at the occasion of marking the most significant activities of the Ministry of Finance in the first quarter 2011, Minister of Finance, Milorad Katni
17. Budget transparency For the purpose of increasing fiscal transparency, the state administration authority responsible for finance affairs Ministr y of Finance publishes monthly Macroeconomic Review, a publication that keeps track of the trends of macroeconomic and fiscal indicators on monthly level. The idea originated from the need of users of data and analyses for brief and comprehensive reviews. Budget transparency remains a challenge for some spending units.
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18. Public procurement Regulator y framework has been improved by the adoption of the Law on Public Procurement aimed at full harmonisation with European standards in the area of public procurement and full efficiency, competitiveness and transparency of the public procurement procedure. In view of improving the procedure for corruption repor ting to the Public Procurement Directorate by thir d parties, campaigns and seminars are continuously organised, and a hotline for corruption reporting has been open. In order to provide for the access to all relevant documents the website of the Public Procurement Directorate and portal of the Public Procurement Administration are regularly updated, on daily basis and all relevant documents (invitations, plans, decisions, contracts and annexes to contracts) are posted on www.ujn.gov.me. The control of the public procurement procedure and particularly the negotiating procedure still remains a challenge.

CREATING SA FER COMMUNITIES 19. Police in the community The work of the police is a long-term and complex pr ocess and its carrying out improves and encourages the partnership between the citizens and the police, enhances the quality of work and professionalism of police officers, i.e. enables active participation of the community in resolving security issues and improves the quality of life of citizens who live and work in the local community. Police in the community is a transition from traditional to modern model of wor k of the police, based on the idea that police and citizens, through mutual cooperation should commit to the fact that the wor k of the police should be in the service of citizens, w ho will provide necessar y suppor t to the activities of the police. This strategy implies a change on the level of the system of police values: the key performance indicator of the police is not only the statistics of detected crimes and police actions, but also the level of confidence of citizens in the police and their sense of security. Through the wor k of the police in the community, the police gradually changes its identity and becomes a public service for citizens. However, it is still notable that the corruption and other deviant behaviour are much more repor ted to other government authorities than the police itself. For the purpose of contributing to the combat against all forms of discrimination, the cooperation between the National Police and non-governmental sector and representatives of the civil society has been strengthening continuously. This is evidenced by numerous wor king meetings with non-governmental organisations protecting the rights of disabled persons, the Council for civil control of the wor k of the police and re presentatives of national minorities. Through various activities, the National Police intensively takes care of the protection of vulnerable groups and as such it has been recognised as a positive example in the region, so in 2011 it got the award Friends of Justice that is granted by the Conference Justice in the Balkans Equality for Sexual Minorities. Police has a contact person for LGBT population, and so far it has signed and has been implementing the Memorandum on Cooperation and Understanding with NGO LGBT Forum Progres and NGO Juventas, while the signing of the Memorandum on Cooperation with NGO Akcija za ljudska prava (Human Rights Action) is in the process of preparation.

INCREASING CORPORA TE ACCOUNTA BILITY 20. Encouraging dialogue and partnership for sustainable development between the Government and business sector in Montenegr o As par t of the Project Encouraging dialogue

and partnership for sustainable development between the Government and business sector in Montenegro , implemented by the Division for Support to the National Council for Sustainable
Development of the Ministr y of Sustainable Development and Tourism (formerly the Office for Sustainable Development) in cooperation with the Government of the Netherlands (the Project commenced in 2011 and will last until December 2012), the representatives of local self-gover nments in Montenegro and business community had the opportunity to get acquainted with the best practice examples for corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in the Netherlands by attending a study visit to government institutions, regional organisations and companies. Visits particular emphasis was on sustainable consumption and production, management of waste,
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wastewaters and moder n packaging materials, being some of the key segments for sustainability of development. In December 2011, as part of the same Project, first out of four workshops was held covering corporate social responsibility aimed at strengthening capacities both of the gover nment entities and of the business and non-governmental sector to adopt appropriate legislative framewor k for this area and to apply socially responsible business concepts into own practices. 21. Membership in the Regional Networ k for Corporate Social Responsibility for small and medium-sized enterprises In April 2011, the Division for Support to the National Council for Sustainable Development became member of the Regional Networ k for Corporate Social Responsibility for small and medium-sized enterprises (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation UNIDO). One of the initial activities implemented was the development of the Questionnaire on Implementation of the CSR concept in Montenegrin Companies. Results of the Survey will be included in the regional repor t to be produced by the Network. 22. Development of a study/analysis on the level of inclusion of t he corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept in the national policies of Montenegro In cooperation with the UNDP office in Montenegro and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System, a round table with representatives of ministries, public administration authorities, as well as of the business sector and non-governmental organisations was held in December 2011, whereat the concept of the Study was presented along with the main conclusions of an intensive consultation process carried out during the preparatory process. The objective of the Study is t o propose measures for inclusion of the CSR concept into the national policies of Montenegro based on a current state analysis. 23. In December 2011, the UN Global Compact networ k is launched in Montenegro. The UNDP office in Montenegro initiated launching of the network, along with the support of the Directorate for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Union of Employers of Montenegr o, Centre for Development of Non-governmental Or ganisations (CRNVO), Telecom and Telenor. Nineteen Montenegrin companies, institutions, and non-governmental organisations have signed the UN Global Compact Charter. 24. In December 2011, a first comprehensive survey on the status of corporate social responsibility in Montenegro Corporate social responsibility in Montenegro was presented. Company DeFacto Consultancy carried out the Survey in cooperation with UNDP office in Montenegro, Directorate for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Union of Employers of Montenegro, and Centre for Development of Non-governmental Organisations (CRNVO). 25. Government of Montenegro adopted the Strategy for Development of Small and Medium -sized Enter prises (2011-2015). T he Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy envisages activities to assess the level of development of the corporate social responsibility and implementation of campaigns aimed at informing and raising awareness of SMEs about the corporate social responsibility concepts, all directed towards strengthening the corporate social responsibility in small an d medium-sized enterprises. 26. In May 2008, CEED, in cooperation with UNDP, prepared the Baseline Study on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Montenegro , being the first comprehensive CSR study to map activities and companies, as well as other stakeholders engaged in the CSR and identify gaps in terms of capacities and relevant fields w here interventions are needed. On that occasion the need for additional w ork in education and raising awareness in this area was identified, as well as need to provide incentives to companies to commit to the application of the corporate social responsibility concept. This Study is part of the broader project (CSR in the Western Balkans), its objective being to asses and compare the level of corporate social responsibility practices among companies operating in the South East Europe.
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UN Global Compact is a largest global initiative in the area of corporate social responsibility launched by the United Nations in 1999. 8

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Commitments
Future is not written in stone and determined. We individually and all together are responsible for it. It depends on our work, our commitment, our dedication, vision, and values that we will cherish. Expos of the Prime Minister Igor Luki, December 2010

IMPROVING PUBL IC SERVICES 1. Involv ing representatives of non-governmental sector in the work of the Pr ivatisat ion Council Montenegro will define clear and objective criteria and carr y out the procedure for enabling participation of NGOs in the wor k of the Privatisation Council over the coming period in line with the principle of involving civil sector in public policies. In order to increase the transparency of the privatisation process, the Government will, as one of the contractual parties, invest additional efforts, in line with international practice, for concluded contracts not to contain the data confidentially clause w hich prevents publications of contracts after those are signed (effective). 2. Impr ovement of business environment Implementation of following activities is planned to further improve the business environment: a. Establishment of an electronic registration of enter prises; b. Implementation of the 1st phase of the inspection system reform, which will undertake a gradual merging of inspectorates and extracting them from ministries and administration authorities; c. Implementation of new legislative mechanisms in the process of issuing building permits; d. Establishment of a special administration authority in order to support implementation of investment and development projects. 3. E-register of licenses A reform of business licensing in Montenegro is implemented in order to create a single and transparent system for business licensing. According to the results of performed analysis, conclusion was that it is not needed to establish an independent institution i.e. a special licensing centre, but that the most positive e ffect could be obtained by creating an e-register of licenses by adopting a regulator y framework that would establish a public-private par tnership for keeping and updating such register. 4. Regulatory Guillot ine The Government will carry out activities aimed to finalise this process in the next period. Ministry of Finance will, by reviewing recommendations which are feasible for implementation in the regulatory framewor k of Montenegro, in cooperation with line authorities prepare an Action Plan of measures to improve areas covered by recommendations. Such prepared Action Plan for implementation of the Regulator y Guillotine recommendations, inclusive of indicative deadlines for implementation, once adopted by the Government will represent an overview of regulations that need to be revised, in line with the implementation schedule. A quarterly evaluation will be carried to monitor implementation of recommendations. 5. Regulatory Impact Assessment In or der to try to ensure a full implementation of the Regulator y Impact Analysis, the Government will, over the next period, continue to train civil servants and appl y the Regulatory Impact Assessment in the pr ocess of preparation of the Work Pr ogramme of the Government as well; while over a medium-term horizon a ful l RIA will be implemented, which includes the analysis of economic impacts of laws, environmental impact assessment, social standing of citizen, gender equality 6. Refor m of employ ment of foreigners Procedures for employment of foreigners were simplified and made more transparent. The Government of Montenegro implemented the reform of employment of foreigners, resulting in reducing numerous deadlines for state authorities decision-making, w hile some of

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the procedures were abolished. Efforts in the next period will be aimed at transparency of procedures by printing brochures on employment of foreigners and distribution of material at border -crossing points, employers offices, the Employment Office, and other relevant institutions. 7. Concessions and public- private partnership Special care will be dedicated to the improvement of concessions and development of the public-private partnership model. The Gover nment of Montenegro will set a regulatory framework for the public-private partnership and concessions in cooperation with consultants of S IGMA, and such framework will be aligned with the European standards and UNECE standards. Consequently, said regulation w ould enable public access to the following data from contracts: name of the public-sector par tner or grantor; name of the private partner or Concessionaire; description of the subject-matter of a contract and start date for the project implementation; signing date of a contract and its duration; location of contracted activities. An enabling r egulation will be prepared to address these needs that would govern the functioning of the register of contracts, to provide detailed explanation of procedures for contracts submission and disclosure of data. Access to information will be in line with special regulations governing data pr otection and trade secrets. 8. E-government Portal The Gover nment will be dedicated to affirm and advance existing functions of the E-government portal. Furthermore, primar y objective of improvement of the e-government portal, i.e. the 2nd e-government phase, is to define and create more complex electronic ser vices that citizens need and to make them available to citizens via the Portal and counter for acceptance of electronic documentation. Moreover, e-participation will enable citizens to have an active participation in creation of laws and other strategic documents, as well as to present their opinions and positions in public consultation processes. 9. E-pet itions Cit izen who proposes and impacts the Government policies By affirming dialogue and par tnership, as it core directions and principles of work, in December 2011 the Government announced that will open an online platform to enable citizens of Montenegro to create and sign electronic petitions about anything that the Government is responsible for. This service needs to be established and made fully efficient. 10. Regional government communicat ion forum in South East Europe Regional Cooperation as transparency function Regional forum for government communications in South East Europe is a regional initiative having as the objective to develop capacity of government officials for public relations in order to impact the way how public policies are created, aimed at an increased transparency of the public administration, easier access to public information and larger impact of public on the process of creating public policies, all in order to improve a participatory democracy in the region. The Forums is part of a joint pr oject of the Government of Montenegro and UNDP Montenegro, implemented with the suppor t of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and USA Embassy in Podgorica. Government officials for public relations will be committed to regional cooperation in the area of public relations, as well as to an exchange of experience, and advanced practices aimed at establishing an increased transparency of national gover nments. 11. Public consultations T he Government will ensure a consistent application of the Decree on the Manner and Procedure for Carrying out Public Consultations in Preparation of Laws in the coming period. 12. Direct contact with non-governmental or ganisations Government authorities will ensure continuity in appointing contact persons for cooperation with non-governmental organisations and make available data on the contact persons on its websites. 13. Direct contact with citizens Easier access to institut ions the Gover nment of Montenegro will recommend to administration authorities to establish the same or system similar to one operating as the Burea u for Communication with citizens, within their existing capacities, in order to enable an improved quality of information and better level of citizens awareness on activities within institutions.

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INCREASING PUBL IC INTEGR ITY 14. Free access to infor mat ion The Gover nment of Montenegro will adopt a text of the new Law on Free Access to Information in order to increase possibilities for detection of corruption cases and other breaches of laws by entities subject to the Law on Free Access to Information. T his will provide for: an effective oversight of implementation of regulations on free access to information by a single second instance body, which will be composed of non-partisan professionals; regular quarterly reporting on application of the Law by officers tasked with addressing the requests for free access to information to a single second-instance body; creation of a list of documents that must be proactively published by each institution subject to the Law; and promotion of a r ule that a free access to information is obligatory, w hile restrictions make rare and j ustifiable exceptions. 15. Administration language Making it understandable to citizens The Government will invest efforts to make all activities of the public administration in communicatio n with the public presented in a language understandable to public at large. A need for simpler expressions is particularly pronounced in case of information concerning public finances, economy, European integration, transportation, and other. The Government of Montenegro will affir m the use of simpler language constructs and expressions used by the administration, by adopting a special instruction obligatory for all gover nment authorities for its consistent application. 16. Preventing the conflict of interest The Gover nment will be committed to increase awareness of public officials and civil ser vants on the conflict of interest and importance of its prevention in discharging public functions in the forthcoming period. Activities will be implemented by trai ning delivered for gover nment and local public officials and organising public campaigns to encourage citizens to report conflict of interest of public officials. Furthermore, a full political independence of the Commission needs to be ensured by selectin g professional to be appointed to this body without any political background. 17. Strengthening integr ity Montenegro invested additional effor ts through adoption of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, to be applied from 1 January 2013, aimed at ad vancing public sector integrity plans; which provides for a legislative governing of obligation to adopt public sector integrity plans. The Administration for Anti-Corruption Initiative will engage in regular monitoring of adoption and implementation of integrity plans and will strengthen capacities of authorities to monitor implementation of provisions on integrity plans in the next period. 18. Applicat ion of code of ethics In order to ensure full application of code of ethics for the overall public administration, Montenegro will: a. Establish an Ethical Boar d, as an independent body, consisting of representatives of employees and of a representative trade union or ganisation, which citizens and employees can address in case of breach of standards and rules of the Code of Ethics; b. Carry out training on the Code of Ethics of civil servant and state employees both on the central and local level, along with making mandatory signing of a statement on acceptance of the Code of Ethics (at the event of taking employment); c. Ensure application of the Code of Ethics through operation of disciplinar y bodies and periodic checks on adherence to the Code of Ethics, in order to ensure that a service -oriented public administration builds confidence with citizens users of ser vices; d. Strengthen mechanisms of inter nal control with the Tax Administration and Customs Administration, in particular concerning detection of corruption and conflict of interest and report on semi-annual basis on results of internal controls to the NC. 19. Transparency of criter ia for employ ment, bonuses, and promotion in the public sector Montenegro will be dedicated to achieve objectives aimed at improving the system for employment, bonuses, and promotion (merit based career system) in the public sec tor, by adopting objective criteria and advance methods for testing candidates. 20. Report ing on construct ion of buildings without a building per mit on quarterly basis Depar tment for Inspection Oversight and Misdemeanour Procedure develops a semi -annual report on

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ordinances for demolition (ordinances concerning buildings in cases the investor does not have a building permit), and such report contains also data whether a criminal proceedings are brought against the investor or not. The Government of Montenegro will implement measures for this type of reporting to be done on quarterly basis. 21. Protection of persons reporting corrupt ion In order to provide a comprehensive protection of persons who report corruption in Montenegro, the Government of Montenegro will propose adoption of a special Law on persons w ho repor t corruption, w hich will: define a comprehensive protection of persons who report corruption; stipulate clear procedures for reporting corruption; define competent institutions; establish a reporting system on several levels, including media outlets, parliamentarians and civil society organisation as protected channels for reporting corruption; define clear and detailed measures for protection, sanctions and remuneration to motivate employees to report corruption.

MA NA GING PUBLIC RESOURCES MORE EFFECTIVELY 22. Public procurement Help desk Focus of Montenegro in the next period will be directed towards the development and improvement of the Help desk for advisory and consulting services and special group for repor ting irregularities. 23. Activity how corrupt ion distorts the public procurement process Montenegro will commit to adopt relevant regulations and define training modules; regulations on the programme and manner of taking a professional exam in the area of public procurement; development of a manual, flyers, bulletin on increasing awareness in the segment how corruption distorts the public procurement process and development of instr uctions on how to report irregularities in public procurement procedures. Furthermore, the focus will be on carrying out a campaign on raising awareness transparency in public procurement. 24. Establishing central public procurement bodies A contracting authority designated by way of a Governments regulation will carry out public procurements for the needs of state authorities and public services, while for the needs of local self-government units a contracting authority will be designated by way of regulation of the competent local self-government authority. 25. Electronic public procurement system A conceptual design for the project of assistance, within a framework agreement to be financed by the Delegation of the European Commission to Montenegro called Strengthening of the Public Procurement System in Montenegro is submitted, covering improvement of the Law on Public Procurement in the segment of municipal ser vices sector, institutional framewor k and strengthening administrative capacities of the Public Procurement Administration (trainings), consolidation of public procurements or implementation of the public procurement pr ocedure by another contracting authority, as well as a solution for development of the technical specification geared towards the introduction of an electronic public procurement system. The commencement of the project implementation is planned for 2 May 2012, with the completion date being 1 May 2013. 26. Budget transparency In order to increase transparency of use of public funds, the Gover nment of Montenegro will amend the organic Law on Budget to define in a more precise manner dates in the budgeting calendar, aimed at providing sufficient time to all participants in the planning process, including also the parliamentary procedure. Furthermore, intr oduction of specific fiscal rules and medium-term budgeting is also planned, which will increase significantly the transparency, accountability in planning and implementation, as well as precision in planning of the bud get. The Ministr y of Finance will introduce, as a standing practice, a presentation of the annual budget in a visually comprehensible and simple manner, in or der to ensure better understanding and increase public interest for budget operations. T he same practice will be also established in the process of adoption of the budget revisions.

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Taking into account that the Pr ogramme Budgeting contributes to great extent to an improved efficiency in spending of budget resources with some budget users, the Ministry of Finance will continue its implementation and will continue to identify and develop performance indicators, as mechanisms for monitoring planned activities. Moreover, with the objective to increase transparency of use of public resources, the Ministry of Finance will make amendments to the Chart of Accounts, w hich will improve the expenditure control. In addition, the Ministr y of Finance will enable internal structures to monitor reports of the State Audit Institution, its findings, stated recommendati ons and implementation thereof by the audited entity. The Government will work to improve communication and exchange of information and findings between the internal audit system and the State Audit Institution.

CREATING SA FER COMMUNITIES 27. Combat against all for ms of discr iminat ion The National Police will continue to make effor ts in the coming period, aimed at contributing to the combat against all forms of discrimination. To that end, the National Police will consistently comply with the principles of cooperation and carry out activities defined in the signed Memorandum of Cooperation with the NGO LGBT Forum Progress and NGO Juventas, as well as the Memoranda of Cooperation to be signed with other non-governmental organisation in the for thcoming period. In order to ensure adequate protection of integrity of LGBT persons, the National Police will under take additional specific measures aimed at improving required sensibility of police officers for professional conduct with LGBT persons. Furthermore, the National Police will enable to as many as possible police officer from all regional offices, w ho did not attend training on LGBT rights, to attend informational and educational activities concer ning LGBT rights, which will be carried out by relevant institutions, non- gover nmental or ganisations and/or international organisations in the next period. The National Police will organise in the coming period educational activities for police officers on conduct with disabled persons in cooperation with organisations of disabled persons, in order to contribute to the protection against discrimination of disabled persons. Moreover, the National Police will initiate activities to free -up public traffic areas used by disabled persons and will adjust the Security Centre in accordance with disabled persons needs. In the next period, the National Police will also appoint a contact person for communication with disabled persons and will define procedures for control of passengers and vehicles used by disabled passeng ers in urban, intercity and trans-border transport. 28. Impr oving media freedoms The Government will increase activities to promote media freedoms, including also resolving crimes and detecting perpetrators and conceivers of all crimes against journalists.

INCREASING CORPORA TE ACCOUNTA BILITY 29. Corporate Social Responsibility The Gover nment of Montenegro has to develop a strategic framework for corporate social responsibility in the forthcoming period, to include also defining of the sponsorships and donations segments. Such strategic framework represents one of the key doc uments is part of the promotion of the corporate social responsibility concept in Montenegro. 30. Support to associat ion of players in the society in the CSR area in Montenegro Montenegro will promote and provide support to association of social players (Government, NGOs, and business organisations) in the CSR area in Montenegro over the coming period. The support would be provided to all forms of associations and all networ ks aimed to promote CSR, including also already established networ ks and those that are yet to be established. As part of the cooperation with the Government of the Netherlands, the Division for Suppor t to the National Council for Sustainable Development of the Ministr y of Sustainable Development and Tourism, in cooperation with partners from all sectors, will

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launch the CSR Network by the end of the month, to include representatives of all structures of the society. 31. Continued delivery of workshops on cor porate social responsibility Montenegro will continue, as par t of the Project Encouraging dialogue and partnership for sustainable development between the Government and business sector in Montenegro , to organise workshops on corporate social responsibility aimed at strengthening capacity of the business sector to adopt and apply the corporate social responsibility concept in ow n practices. First manual, or guide for corporate social responsibility for companies will be developed as part the project. The project will be implemented until April 2013.

PRIORITIES
The priorities of the Gover nment of Montenegro are measures concerning the improvement of public services and increasing public integrity.

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