Monténégro
This article examines the budget process in Montenegro. After discussing some general legal, political and economic characteristics of the country, recent institutional reforms are surveyed. The section on the budget formulation process pays special attention to the budget structure and classification, the annual budget preparation cycle, medium-term planning, long-term fiscal sustainability, the organisation of the Ministry of Finance, and the funding of local government. Section 3 addresses the parliamentary approval process, including the role of the budget committee, the annual parliamentary budget cycle, and the impact of Parliament. Section 4 focuses on budget execution, in particular the organisation of the executive process, cash management, and reallocation. Section 5 looks at the supply side of the budget process – public administration and service delivery by the central government as well as by local governments – and at public procurement, public employment, the civil service, and the public enterprise sector. Section 6 examines accounting and audit, including financial reporting, internal audit and external audit.
This note focuses on the multi-faceted structural challenges in the Western Balkans, which have exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it assesses the economic impact of COVID-19 on the region, with special focus on SMEs, tourism, education, employment, digitalisation, trade, and investment. As governments combat the economic and societal consequences of the crisis, the note offers policy considerations towards the objective of building back better a better future, with more inclusive, sustainable and resilient economies.
The future sustainable economic development and well-being of citizens in South East Europe depend on greater economic competitiveness. Reinforcing the region’s economic potential in a post-COVID-19 context requires a holistic, inclusive and growth‑oriented approach to policy making. Against the backdrop of enhanced European Union (EU) accession prospects and a drive towards deeper regional integration, the governments of the six Western Balkan (WB6) economies have demonstrated a renewed commitment to enacting policy reforms.
The third edition of Competitiveness in South East Europe: A Policy Outlook comprehensively assesses policy reforms in the WB6 economies across 16 policy dimensions crucial to their competitiveness. It leverages a highly participatory assessment process, which brought together the views of OECD experts, WB6 policy makers and local non-governmental stakeholders to create a balanced and realistic depiction of their performance. The report seeks to provide WB6 policy makers with a multi-dimensional benchmarking tool, enabling them to compare performance against regional peers as well as OECD good practices, and to design future policies based on rich evidence and actionable policy recommendations.
Economy-specific profiles complement the regional assessment for the first time in this edition of Competitiveness in South East Europe: A Policy Outlook, and provide each WB6 economy with an in-depth analysis of their competitive potential as well as policy recommendations tailored to their specific challenges to inform their structural economic reforms and sustainable development agenda.
This publication is part of the project on Education Development for Students at Risk and those with Disabilities in South Eastern Europe. This project was carried out by the OECD within the framework of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. It contributes to the countries' efforts to adjust their education reforms to the EC principles as outlined in the EU "Detailed Work Programme on the Follow-up of the Objectives of Education and Training Systems in Europe". More specifically, the countries’ efforts focus on the objective of widening access to quality education and ensuring equal opportunities for all. The respective country reports are supplemented by a general overview on the situation of special needs education in South Eastern Europe.
The Western Balkans region has clear aspirations to improve its economic competitiveness and integrate further into Europe. A highly skilled population is critical to achieving these goals, which makes creating and maintaining high quality and equitable education systems a vital part of regional development efforts. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that learning outcomes in the region have improved over time, but that the improvement has not been equitable. Some students are performing similarly to students from countries in the European Union, while others are lagging further behind.
This report, developed in co-operation with the European Commission and UNICEF, analyses PISA data in detail to identify the strengths, challenges and unique features of education systems in the Western Balkans. Drawing upon a rich knowledge base of education policy and practice in the region, it makes recommendations about how systems in the region can improve learning for all students. This report will be of interest to regional policy-makers as well as individuals who wish to learn more about education in the Western Balkans.
The EPPA 2004 indicates that, since the completion of the previous EPPA report in March 2003, Serbia has made progress in implementing better policies for the SME sector. The overall picture is that of a gradual, but limited and uneven progress over the broad spectrum of the seven policy dimensions covered by the EPPA report...
Government at a Glance: Western Balkans presents information on public governance in the Western Balkan region – covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, and compares it to OECD and OECD-EU countries. This first regional edition features 40 indicators on public finance, public employment, centre of government, budgeting practices and procedures, human resources management, public procurement, digital government, core government results and serving citizens. Governance indicators provide important benchmarks on public administration systems, practices and performance. Indicators are presented in a user-friendly format using charts, with brief descriptive analyses of the major findings, and a methodological section on the definition of the indicator and any limitations in data comparability.
The paper provides a comparative analysis of the implementation of the recently adopted laws on administrative procedure in the five Western Balkan administrations. First the paper confirms the compliance of the laws with the principles of good administrative behaviour that have been established by the Council of Europe recommendations, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Principles of Public Administration. Subsequently, the application of these principles in practice is reviewed on the basis of three sample administrative procedures. Finally, the paper identifies the main implementation challenges and their causes as well as suggests measures for overcoming the challenges on the basis of experiences from EU and OECD member states.
Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) are a critical part of public accountability systems. They ‘watch’ over governments’ use of public money and report about it publicly, helping to increase transparency. SAIs have an interest in strongly engaging with external stakeholders – including citizens – to make sure that their work is relevant, understood and used to hold governments to account.
This paper provides a compilation of European SAIs’ practices on communication, co-operation and collaboration with external partners and is intended to provide inspiration to SAIs of EU candidate countries and potential candidates to further strengthen their engagement with their non-governmental stakeholders.
Using an innovative methodology, the Investment Reform Index 2010 (IRI 2010) monitors investment-related policy reforms in the economies of South-East Europe and compares these to best practices in the OECD area. Based on inputs from governments, the private sector, independent experts and multilateral organisations active in the region, the IRI 2010 assesses policies and institutional settings in eight fields of policy critical to domestic and foreign investors. These are: investment policy and promotion; human capital development; trade policy and facilitation; access to finance; regulatory reform and parliamentary processes; infrastructure for investment; tax policy analysis; and SME policy. For the economies examined, the IRI 2010 provides an independent and rigorous assessment of investment-related policy settings and reform against international good practice, guidance for policy reform and development and an evidence base with which to facilitate prioritisation of donor activities supporting investment and growth.
Montenegro has implemented a domestic legal and administrative framework for CbC reporting and a review of this will be included in the next peer review report.
Montenegro has made some improvements in the institutional, regulatory and operational environment for SMEs since 2012, although SMEs still face challenges resulting from an uneven economic recovery. Its technical standards are now largely harmonised with the EU acquis, business registration requirements have been further eased and e-government services have expanded. Tax payment procedures have further been simplified and made available electronically, with the double benefit of increasing tax compliance and curtailing informal economy activity. The government has also made considerable efforts to harmonise entrepreneurial learning across different national strategies. It has established an institutional infrastructure and financial instruments to promote innovation in SMEs. However, although the country has relatively well-developed microfinance products, access to finance continues to be a major constraint for SMEs. Montenegro should now consider further steps to enhance access to finance: among them to facilitate the establishment of a private credit bureau and initiatives to enhance financial literacy. The government should increase its efforts to provide horizontal and targeted business support services, particularly in the key areas of supporting SME access to foreign markets and providing financial and nonfinancial support for innovation. Montenegro might also consider integrating the entrepreneurship key competence into the curricula.
Montenegro was the fastest growing economy in South-East Europe (SEE) between 2005 and 2008. Real GDP grew on average by 8.9% annually during this period. In 2008, GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity was USD 11 111, close to the average for SEE economies of USD 11 460. The average annual inflation rate between 2005 and 2008 was 4.8%, lower than the average of 6.1% for SEE economies during the same period1 (IMF, 2009).