The delegation of the post-monitoring mission of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, composed of Cecília Friderics, Sören Schumacher, Svitlana Pereverten and Brid Quinn, visited the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, where it met with the Montenegrin delegation to this European institution. The delegation was led by Petar Smolović, president of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje and head of the delegation, while its members also included Dr. Jelena Borovinić Bojović, president of the Assembly of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro and president of the Assembly of the Capital City of Podgorica, Stevan Katić, president of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, Vida Ivanović, vice-president of the Assembly of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro and president of the Municipal Assembly of Berane, and Samir Agović, president of the Municipality of Petnjica.
On behalf of the Union of Municipalities, the meeting was attended by Radoš Žugić, president of the Managing Board of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro and Ppresident of the Municipality of Žabljak, as well as Mišela Manojlović, secretary general of the Union of Municipalities. Representatives of the central authorities in attendance included Nina Blažić, acting director general of the Directorate for Local Self-Government at the Ministry of Public Administration, Snežana Mugoša, general director of the Directorate for the Local Self-Government Financing System and Wage Policy at the Ministry of Finance, as well as Vladislav Bojović, president of the Committee on Political System and Public Administration of the Parliament of Montenegro.
Following the Congress monitoring mission conducted in October 2023, the Council of Europe adopted a report stating that Montenegro is the most centralized country in Europe. We are free to point out that this report represented a fundamental turning point in the previous state policy of centralization toward municipalities.
State interventionism has been present in Montenegro since the early 1990s, when municipalities were stripped of responsibilities for preschool education, primary healthcare, social and child protection, employment services, police affairs, and the management of the coastal zone — the most valuable resource of the coastal municipalities, which local self-governments had previously exercised without interference. Over the following three decades, interventionism expanded to other local competences as well, violating the constitutional and convention-based rights of municipalities. Ultimately, this led to complete administrative tutelage by the central authorities, formalized through the 2018 Law on Local Self-Government, which effectively blocked the functioning of local administrations for an extended period.
The President of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje, Petar Smolović, emphasized that since the adoption of the 2024 Council of Europe report, a partnership-based relationship has been established between the central and local authorities, particularly in the areas of financing and tax regulations, which is one of the topics of the post-monitoring mission. He particularly stressed the importance of consultations with municipalities regarding the financing of local projects from the capital budget, in order to prioritize development projects that increase employment and prevent the depopulation of the northern region.
Dr. Jelena Borovinić Bojović recalled that in 2024 municipalities regained their authority over spatial planning and construction, the removal of which in 2017 had completely halted local development and investments for eight years, while simultaneously leading to the loss of professional staff. “With this turnaround, the Government demonstrated a genuine commitment to European integration and respect for the recommendations of the Council of Europe. We expect that the post-monitoring mission will reinforce the course of decentralization initiated in 2024 and accelerate the development of local democracy. We are witnessing an increasingly constructive relationship between the central authorities and municipalities, particularly in the areas of financial sustainability, subsidiarity, and the improvement of consultation processes. I would especially highlight the progress toward decentralization, greater transparency, and the modernization of local services — all of which represent key European standards on Montenegro’s path toward full EU membership by 2028,” she stated.
The President of the Managing Board of the Union of Municipalities, Radoš Žugić, emphasized that each of the 25 municipalities is unique, making it difficult to establish uniform standards. He recommended making maximum use of the capacities of the Union of Municipalities in defining both common and individual needs. As an example of good practice, he highlighted the cooperation between the Municipality of Žabljak and the Government in the implementation of strategic projects, stressing that without stable finances there can be no municipal autonomy.
Vida Ivanović, President of the Municipal Assembly of Berane, emphasized the good cooperation with the Government, which has resulted in the accelerated development of Berane, as well as the need for greater investment in the northern region in order to prevent migration and address the shortage of qualified personnel.
Acting director general of the Directorate for Local Self-Government at the Ministry of Public Administration Nina Blažić recalled that the preparation of the Draft Law on Local Self-Government has been brought to a close. This law decentralizes certain competences to cities as a new form of local self-government, through a broad consultative process involving all municipalities and the Union of Municipalities. According to Blažić, the comprehensive analysis preceding the amendments to the legal framework indicated the need for gradual and controlled decentralization that will guarantee continuity and quality of services to citizens.
Samir Agović, President of the Municipality of Petnjica, proposed that the new law should also regulate and establish regional authorities as a special form of local self-government, which would contribute to the easier realization of common regional interests and strengthen inter-municipal cooperation.
Stevan Katić, President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, emphasized that in the process of transferring competences to municipalities, it is necessary to ensure adequate financial resources, which is a right of municipalities guaranteed by the European Charter as well as domestic legislation. He pointed out that extensive work still lies ahead in amending numerous laws in the direction of decentralization, including fiscal decentralization. He underlined that the management of municipal property remains centralized, which slows down investments and local development. “The management of the coastal zone, the most valuable resource of the coastal municipalities, which was under local jurisdiction until 1992, also remains fully centralized. Last year, the presidents of the coastal municipalities, regardless of political differences, submitted a unified initiative for the return of this competence and the related revenues to the municipalities, but it was not adopted,” Katić stated.
He also pointed to the centralized system of local government salaries, which is discouraging in comparison with the private sector and leads to the outflow of qualified professionals. “Regarding the restored competence for spatial planning, a major challenge is the employment of spatial planners, designers, and construction inspectors. I propose the adoption of a special law on local government salaries that would provide incentives for professions facing staff shortages,” he stated.
Snežana Mugoša, General Director of the Directorate for the Local Self-Government Financing System and Wage Policy at the Ministry of Finance, recalled that the issue of salaries and the shortage of qualified personnel also exists at the state level, and that the wage system has been further disrupted by collective agreements. According to Mugoša, resolving this issue requires broad consensus among social partners and political support. As she emphasized, financial resources for the new municipal competences are not in question, since they are guaranteed by law. “All municipalities are currently financially stable thanks to the amendments to the regulations adopted in 2024,” Mugoša stated.
Mišela Manojlović, Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro pointed to the significant results of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, particularly in the preparation of a set of laws aimed at improving the collection of municipalities’ own revenues, the rescheduling of local tax debts, and the distribution of funds from the Equalization Fund. According to her, there is a need to update data from the real estate cadastre and the central population register, on the basis of which tax decisions are issued, due to the large number of appeals and the high procedural costs that burden local budgets with millions of euros and undermine legal certainty and taxpayers’ fiscal discipline.
In the field of water supply, she pointed to the need for further work on decentralization and amendments to the regulations governing the criteria for determining water prices and justified operating costs established by the regulator, which, according to her, threaten the sustainability of municipal water utility companies. “There are announcements that a regulator will also be introduced in the field of waste management, which has not been the case so far, and municipalities oppose this due to the negative experiences from the water sector,” Manojlović warned.
The Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities conveyed the concerns of municipalities regarding the Draft Law on Social and Child Protection, which envisages the introduction of three new integrated services without secured funding and without an analysis of the needs of the local population, while reminding that municipalities already face difficulties in financing existing day-care centers, in which the state participates with only around 30%.
Regarding consultative mechanisms in the preparation of regulations of interest to municipalities, Manojlović pointed to significant positive changes over the past two years through participation in the working groups of most ministries and sessions of parliamentary committees, while draft laws are regularly submitted to the Union for its opinion within the legally prescribed 15-day deadline.
“Excellent cooperation has been established with the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography, and the Ministry of Culture. The Union has also had a Cooperation Agreement with the Parliament of Montenegro since 2016, which is currently being revised in order for all legislative texts, including those proposed by members of parliament, to be submitted to the Union,” Manojlović emphasized.
That the Parliament of Montenegro is willing to cooperate was also confirmed by Member of Parliament Vladislav Bojović, who emphasized his readiness for the Draft Law on Local Self-Government to be discussed at a special session of the Committee on Political System and Public Administration, which he chairs.
Representatives of the Union recalled that the European Charter guarantees municipalities the right to independently organize their administration — secretariats, administrative bodies, directorates, and services — and to determine job positions in accordance with their own needs. This right existed in full until the adoption of the 2018 Law on Local Self-Government, which disrupted the functioning of municipal administrations, complicated the work of municipal presidents and chief administrators, caused conflicts of competences, and undermined the rights of senior management staff. It was assessed that the Ministry of Public Administration should further review the Draft Law on Local Self-Government in order to avoid excessive or inadequate regulation of the internal organization of local administration, with the aim of aligning it with the European Charter and obtaining a positive assessment from the Congress post-monitoring mission.
It was concluded that it is necessary to establish a working body composed of decision-makers from both the central and local levels, as an effective consultative mechanism that will contribute to better mutual understanding in the process of adopting laws and other acts related to the local level.
In line with established practice, the Congress will submit the draft version of the Report to the Union for comments, and the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro will forward it to all meeting participants so that they can jointly provide proposals and suggestions.
