Earlier today, at the Inter-governmental Conference in Brussels, Montenegro opened two new EU accession negotiations chapters: 7 – Intellectual Property Rights, and 10 – Information Society and Media.
Montenegro’s conference declaration was headed by Chief Negotiator Ambassador Aleksandar Andrija Pejović, and the delegation included heads of working groups for Chapters 7 and 10 Novak Adžić and Ružica Mišković.
In his address, Ambassador Pejović welcomed the fact that, after opening the rule of law chapters, the negotiation process is developing steadily in other areas as well, such as these two related to intellectual property rights, and information society and media.
He underlined that Montenegro’s tasks in these and all other chapters are not solely aimed at aligning with EU regulation, but are intended to help the steady transformation of the society and development of new opportunities for citizens and companies. In that regard, Ambassador Pejović noted that further alignment with EU acquis and implementation of legislation in the area of intellectual property will greatly contribute to Montenegro’s technological, scientific, cultural, and overall progress. He said he was hopeful that Montenegro will align fully with the EU acquis in this area by late 2015, by adopting new or amending existing legislation. In parallel with legislative activity, Montenegro will continue strengthening institutional and administrative capacity for an efficient implementation of intellectual property legislation.
When it comes to Chapter 10 – Information Society and Media, the Chief Negotiator underlined the important effect this chapter has on economic development and employment. He noted that Montenegro shows firm committment and tangible results in aligning legislation with EU regulations and standards in the area of electronic communication, IT services, and audio-visual policy, as well as their proper implementation. He emphasised that our focus in the future period will be on further alignment and capacity development for the implementation of regulations from this chapter.
On behalf of the EU, speakers at the Inter-governmental Conference were Greece’s Ambassador to the EU Theodoros Sotiropoulos and Director General for Enlargement Christian Danielsson.
It was underlined at the meeting that Montenegro is making good progress in the EU accession process and that all results achieved thus far are a result of Montenegrin administration’s and society’s energy and determination. It was noted that the good tempo will likely continue in the upcoming months and that Montenegro will soon be able to open additional negotiation chapters. When it comes to Chapters 7 and 10, the EU officials voiced their expectation that Montenegro will continue aligning its legislation with the EU acquis in these areas, implementing the laws in a good way, and further developing its administrative capacity.
