Programme

09:00–11:00      Inaugural session
Welcoming remarks by
  • Oliver RÖPKE, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
  • Maida GORČEVIĆ, Minister of European Affairs, Government of Montenegro
Opening remarks by
  • Decebal-Ștefăniță PADURE and Gordana ĐUROVIĆ, co chairs of the EU-Montenegro Joint Consultative Committee (JCC)

***

Current state of play in EU-Montenegro relations: 2024 Enlargement Package and Montenegro Report, overview of the developments within the Berlin process

  • Kirsi PEKURI, Political Desk, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission (DG NEAR)
  • H.E. Petar MARKOVIĆ, Ambassador and Head of Mission of Montenegro to the European Union
  • Andrej ZORKO, President of the EESC’s Western Balkans Follow-up Committee and the rapporteur of REX/591 - Paving the way to EU accession for the Western Balkans

Debate

11:00–11:15      Coffee break
11:15–12:15 Reform Agenda (RA) for Montenegro and the implementation of the New growth plan for the Western Balkans
  • Krzysztof ZUREK, Unit for Montenegro, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission (DG NEAR)
  • Vesna DAKOVIĆ, JCC member (RA – monitoring, reporting, transparency, key implementation challenges of priority measures)
  • Presented by Andrej ZORKO EESC opinion REX/581 - New growth plan and Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans (Rapporteur: Ionut SIBIAN, Co-rapporteur: Dragica MARTINOVIĆ)

Debate

12:15–13:00      Montenegrin roadmap for fulfillment of the negotiation chapters’ closing benchmarks after the IBAR

Presentations from the EESC perspective:

  • Stoyan TCHOUKANOV, Rapporteur EESC opinion NAT/924 - How to ensure the social, environmental and economic sustainability of the EU agri-food sector with future enlargement? 
  • Thomas KATTNIG,  Rapporteur EESC opinion TEN/836 - Labour and skills shortages in transport, energy, infrastructure and the digital sector (online)

Presentations from Montenegro’s perspective:

  • Tatjana DŽUDOVIĆ, JCC member: Trends in the Montenegro’s labour market and the challenges of migration 
  • Pavle RADOVANOVIĆ, JCC member: Business associations’ priorities in preparation of the private sector for the final phase of accession talks (tbc)

Debate

13:00–14:30     Lunch break
14:30–16:00     Overview of the civil society situation in Montenegro, including social dialogue
  • Katrīna LEITĀNE, Rapporteur EESC opinion SOC/795 - Strengthening the EU Youth Dialogue follow-up via monitoring and transparency guidelines 
  • Klara BIRCHLEY, Unit for Montenegro, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission (DG NEAR)
  • Marina VUJAČIĆ, JCC member - CSOs, Srđa KEKOVIĆ, JCC member - Trade Unions and Suzana RADULOVIĆ, JCC member – Business Associations: Challenges of strengthening voice of CSOs/social dialogue in the context of dynamic political changes 

Debate

16:00–16:30       Adoption of the Joint declaration
16:30    End of meeting