Delegation of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Council of Europe visits Ministry of Finance

Minister of Finance Aleksandar Damjanović, along with his team, held a meeting today with a delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. The delegation includes rapporteurs for local democracy and members of the Congress Monitoring Committee for Turkey and Germany, Çemal Bas and Sören Schumacher, Co-Aecretary of the Monitoring Committee Svitlana Pereverten, and a member of the Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government from Germany, Jens Woelk.

This visit is part of the regular monitoring activities conducted by Congress members in Montenegro. Their objective is to gather data and monitor the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in our country as a member of the Council of Europe. This visit will result in a report and recommendations for further implementation of the highest European standards in this area.

In this context, Minister Damjanović presented the legislative framework governing the functioning of local self-government in our country, the financing structure, and the current forms of cooperation between the State, i.e., central authorities, and individual municipalities. He noted that since the last mission report in 2015, four additional municipalities have been established in Montenegro. Stressing the importance of decentralization of power in any system, the Minister emphasized the need to balance the recognized need for transferring powers and responsibilities to the local level with the independent and sustainable financing of municipalities. Therefore, he highlighted that the Council of Europe's recommendations would be valuable in further considering models to enhance policies aimed at the sustainability of local self-government.

During the expert-level discussions, participants exchanged information on all key parameters characterizing the functioning of local self-government in Montenegro to ensure that the upcoming analysis is as objective and comprehensive as possible.