CBCG at the meeting of the Subcommittee for Internal Market and Competition between Montenegro and the European Commission
20/06/2024
CBCG representatives attended the meeting of the Subcommittee for Internal Market and Competition between Montenegro and the European Commission, held today in Brussels.
At the meeting in Brussels opened by the Deputy Head of the Unit for Montenegro and Serbia in the General Directorate for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Policy, Ms Cindy van den Boogert, and the Chief Negotiator of Montenegro, Mr Predrag Zenović, the CBCG was represented by the head of the working group for Negotiation Chapter 9 - Financial Services, Ms Ana Vlahović, and a part of the CBCG team attended the meeting virtually.
The CBCG representatives informed the European Commission of activities related to the further harmonisation of the national regulatory framework governing the operations of credit institutions with EU legislation, stressing that this further strengthened the financial system’s stability. At the meeting, they particularly noted that the CBCG’s regulatory activities will be further intensified in the coming period so that the process of harmonising with the current EU regulations in this area will be completed as soon as possible.
At the meeting, they also discussed results in the payment operations area and the financial sector, and representatives of the European Commission especially praised Montenegro’s progress in joining SEPA and the results achieved in improving the regulatory framework governing payment operations.
The meeting participants were additionally informed that, to more efficiently implement the obligations of fulfilling the closing benchmarks in the negotiation chapters under its direct competence, the CBCG established a Coordination Body for monitoring the European integration process, chaired by the Governor, Ms Irena Radović. Moreover, sharing the same objective, the Financial Stability Council launched an initiative to speed up the activities of the Capital Market Authority, the Insurance Supervision Agency and the Deposit Protection Fund to fulfil obligations in the process of European integration.
The meeting of the Subcommittee for Internal Market and Competition is held annually. The subcommittees are working bodies established to monitor the implementation of the contractual obligations from the Stabilisation and Association Agreement by which Montenegro formally committed itself to aligning its legislation with the EU acquis. The active participation of representatives in the work of the Subcommittee once again confirmed the CBCG’s readiness to fully contribute to Montenegro’s accession to the European Union through its activities and expertise.