At today’s Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels, Montenegro opened two more chapters in the accession process with the EU.
Negotiations were opened in chapters 16 and 30, relating to “Taxation” and “External Relations” respectively.
Montenegro has already opened 18 chapters for negotiation, of which two have already been provisionally closed.
As to the Chapter 16 – Taxation, Chief Negotiator of Montenegro Aleksandar Pejović said that the country is aware of the benefits the chapter is to bring to the society as a whole. He stressed that exchange of information with relevant EU institutions will contribute to more efficient collection of tax revenue and elimination of tax evasion and fraud, thus making significant contribution to achieving economic balance and increasing employment chances.
He pointed out the Chapter 16 is to bring important benefit tobusiness and Montenegrin companies, primarily in terms of lower administrative expenses, transparent and safe operation and reducing red tape. In order to meet benchmarks from this chapter, Montenegro will continue to harmonise its legislation with that of the EU, particularly those relating to VAT, excise duties and direct taxation, at the same time making efforts towards strengthening tax administrative IT capacity, the Chief Negotiator pointed out.
Speaking of the Chapter 30 – External Relations, Ambassador Pejović said that removal of trade barriers between EU member states and application of common external tariff lead to reduction in cross-border business costs, cheaper and faster export goods and services to the Montenegrin company which will have a direct impact to economic policies related to the chapter.
He also added that the harmonisation with EU bilateral agreements will enable Montenegrin companies to have free access to markets of third countries with which the EU has concluded trade agreements.