At today’s meeting of Secretary General of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Siniša Stanković with Head of Political, European Integration and Trade Section at the EU Delegation to Montenegro Mr Alberto Cammarata and Rule of Law and EU Integration Advisor at the EU Delegation Ms Barbara Rotovnik, the activities implemented by the Parliament regarding creation of conditions for unrestricted access to the building of the Parliament for persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities were presented. Mr Stanković informed his interlocutors that the tender for drafting the main project and performing constructionhad been published yesterday, and its implementation should enable unrestricted access to the building of the Parliament as well as to the Plenary Hall and meeting rooms. Furthermore, the plans of the Parliament for enabling greater accessibility of a certain part of parliamentary information for visually impaired and hearing impaired persons by adjusting the website of the Parliament were presented. Mr Stanković expressed his belief that in the following period adequate access to the building of the Parliament for persons with disabilities would be provided, thus creating opportunities for their greater participation in the work of the Parliament.  

In the context of implementing electoral legislation, Mr Cammarata was especially interested in resolving the issue of administrative and spatial capacities of the State Election Commission. Mr Stanković informed his interlocutors that the Act on Systematisation and Organization of Working Positions in the State Election Commission had been submitted to the Administrative Committee, which the Committee would consider at its first following meeting, while the business premises for the needs of the State Election Commission would be provided in cooperation with the Public Property Administration.

Mr Cammarata welcomed the plan for holding of the conference on the topic “Independence of the Judiciary and Reforms of the Justice System” on 18 and 19 June in Montenegro, organised by the Parliament of Montenegro in cooperation with the European Parliament. Mr Stanković pointed out that at the Conference, which would be attended by representatives of the Western Balkans parliaments and the Parliament of Turkey, as well as civil sector organisations in the region, several topics from the field of independence, cooperation and reform of the judiciary would be considered.

Mr Cammarata expressed pleasure over the recent successful study visit of the Anti-corruption Committee to Brussels and said that the EU encouraged initiatives of the Parliament of Montenegro which could contribute to even better cooperation of the committees and the Parliament of Montenegro as a whole with the EU institutions and constant advancement of knowledge of both MPs and employees regarding the EU law and procedures, the European Parliament in particular.

The interlocutors also shared opinions on the Code of Ethics for MPs, adopted in December 2014, as well as on establishing procedures for handling complaints of citizens and legal persons by Anti-corruption Committee and Committee on Human Rights and Freedoms within the scope of their competencies.

The Secretary General emphasised that significant attention was paid to constant strengthening of administrative capacities of the Parliamentary Service, primarily through using contemporary models of human resources development, aimed at continuous promotion of professional support provided to MPs.