Against a backdrop of global insecurity, high interest rates, and slowing EU growth, you have described the fiscal position of Montenegro as ‘stable and resilient’. In light of the European Commission’s 2025 Enlargement Package, which emphasises the capacity to implement reforms over formal alignment, what has been the most decisive factor in turning reforms into tangible fiscal results? What role has administrative capacity played?

Facing complex global developments, Montenegro has demonstrated that fiscal stability is no accident, but rather the result of consistent reform implementation. In our case, the decisive factor has been translating reforms from strategic papers into operational practice by institutions. The European Commission has rightly highlighted implementation capacity, because only a robust and professional public administration is able to guarantee sustainable fiscal results. Investing in administrative capacity has helped our fiscal policy remain credible, accountable, and aligned with EU standards.

The European Commission has underscored progress made by your country with internal financial control, audit, and oversight of public corporations – all areas key for closing chapters 23 and 24. How has Montenegro’s long-standing participation in CEF learning formats focused on exchange of experiences helped build institutional capacity needed to meet these benchmarks?

The progress acknowledged by the European Commission in areas such as public internal financial control, audit, and oversight of public companies is directly linked with systematic strengthening of Montenegro’s institutional capacity over the past several years. CEF has been a key partner in this process. Regional formats based on exchange of experiences have allowed our institutions to learn from countries that previously completed these reforms successfully, which helped us significantly accelerate alignment with European standards and meet relevant benchmarks for chapters 23 and 24.

With EU instruments increasingly interconnected and results-based, requirements for planning and monitoring reform implementation are becoming more and more demanding. Where do you see the greatest need for building capacity: in setting realistic reform milestones, getting institutions to agree on shared objectives, or producing high-quality reports on how EU funds are used?

As EU instruments are increasingly reliant on measurable results, focus has shifted towards strategic management of reforms. Most capacity enhancements are needed to ensure that institutions can come together around clearly defined priorities and that reform milestones can be set with precision. Montenegro is aware that sound planning, monitoring, and reporting are the key to using EU resources effectively and building trust amongst our European partners.

As Montenegro aims to complete its accession negotiations by the end of 2026, maintaining reform momentum is crucial. From your perspective, as Minister of Finance and member of the CEF Governing Board, what value do you see in regional platforms, such as CEF, helping candidate countries learn faster, avoid common pitfalls, and keep ownership of reforms within their public administrations?

Having set itself a clear goal of completing accession negotiations by the end of 2026, Montenegro now embarks on the decisive stage of its road to Europe. Regional platforms such as CEF play a key part in this process as they help us learn faster, exchange best practices, and avoid the usual delays that can plague reforms. From my perspective as Minister of Finance, and past Chair and current member of the CEF Governing Board, I feel these platforms are particularly important as they strengthen the sense of ownership public administrations have of reforms and contribute to their long-term sustainability.

In recent years, the Ministry of Finance has strengthened its capacity to coordinate, monitor, and report complex public financial management reforms. What changes are today the most visible in your day-to-day work – do they relate to planning, tracking progress, reporting to the Government and the European Commission, or co-ordination between institutions?

The Ministry of Finance has lately made substantial progress in coordinating, monitoring, and reporting public financial management reforms. The most readily visible of these changes include enhanced strategic planning, systematic progress monitoring, and better reporting to the Government and the European Commission. We have also strengthened collaboration between institutions, allowing us to make decisions more quickly and achieve reform objectives more effectively in line with European standards.