The European Union and the Council of Europe supported the finalisation of the legislative framework for the application of the new draft Law on Lobbying of Montenegro, by organising a workshop with the representatives of the Working group responsible for elaborating the legal framework.

The Council of Europe expert provided an opinion on all draft bylaws to be adopted in line with the Law on Lobbying enabling the effective implementation of the new Law on Lobbying.

The expert presented 48 recommendations for further development of the bylaws in order to facilitate the implementation of the Law, such as: introducing the possibility to appoint substitute members of the examination board in order to ensure the timeliness of the examination and extending the required categories of information to be reported with regard to alleged illegal lobbying. As an additional safeguard the opinion suggested including the possibility to appeal the examination in line with applicable administrative procedures.

The new legislative framework that regulates lobbying activities in Montenegro, once adopted, will strongly improve the transparency of lobbying activities in Montenegro in line with the Council of Europe recommendation in this area.

This meeting was organised within the framework of the Action against economic crime in Montenegro, which is a part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019 – 2022”.