Members of the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget took part in the Interparliamentary Conference, titled:  “Economic governance and job creation in the EU and in enlargement countries”, held in Sarajevo, on 15 and 16 October 2015, and organised by the European Parliament in cooperation with the Regional Cooperation Council.

The conference in Sarajevo is a part of a support programme of the European Parliament, directed towards parliaments of enlargement countries and it has gathered MPs from Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, for the purpose of  exchanging views and best practices with MEPs and representatives of the European Commission and Regional Cooperation Council.

The conference covered topics such as: structural reforms, related to solving the problem of bad ambience for foreign direct investments and priorities and perspectives in this field; the importance of public sector reforms and professionalisation of public administration; convergence of candidate countries towards the EU standards in fiscal and taxation policies;  the experience EU member in solving the unemployment problem, as well as the parliaments’ role in fostering and supporting harmonisation with the EU standards.

It was assessed that unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, presented one of the greatest challenges that the Western Balkan countries have been facing.  Additionally, it was stated that in the majority of the countries, the unemployment had roots in:  the institutional setup of the labour market, labour cost factors and the unfinished transition process.

With regard to that, the need for investing in research, development and innovations has been recognised as one of the potential growth factors for the Western Balkan countries, in order to meet the needs of labour marked in the accession process to the EU.

During the conference, members of Montenegrin delegation participated in discussions on several panels.

Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro consisted of MPs Mr Aleksandar Damjanović, Chairperson of the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget, Mr Filip Vuković, member of the Committee and Mr Goran Nikolić, Advisor in the Committee.