Members of Parliament have voted in favor of the Draft Law on Construction of Facilities, officially reinstating the building permit as the primary authorization needed from the state or municipality for constructing a facility.

Additionally, the Draft Law on Spatial Planning has been approved, along with supplementary regulations stating that implementation will commence the day after publication in the Official Gazette due to its urgent nature.

However, the Proposal for Amendments to the Law on Property Relations, which aimed to grant EU citizens the same rights as local citizens following Montenegro’s accession to the union, did not pass. This proposal required a two-thirds majority or 54 votes, but only 53 MPs supported it, preventing its adoption.

Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić remarked that the passage of this legislation indicates who supports European integration. He noted that, despite restrictions on attending sessions, the opposition managed to participate in the voting process.

Enhancements in Disability Benefits on the Horizon

Amendments to the Law on Veterans’ and Disability Protection have been passed, which will incorporate civilian war victims into the veterans’ and disability protection framework, granting their Montenegrin citizen family members the right to compensation. Furthermore, the basis for calculating disability benefits for civilian war victims has increased from 307 to 860 euros…

In line with the Draft Law on Construction of Buildings, the Government is restoring the building permit as the necessary consent for construction, replacing the construction application that has been in effect for the past seven years. Moreover, municipalities are regaining the authority to issue building permits for structures up to 3,000 square meters, and the processes for constructing individual family homes are being streamlined. Additionally, the licensing of professional staff, technical standards, and the involvement of EU citizens in design and oversight work will now align with EU standards and directives…

A key innovation in the proposed Law on Spatial Planning is the establishment of a government entity dedicated to developing planning documents at the state level, while municipalities may also create their own entities for local planning documents.

MPs have also approved modifications to the Law on State Property, but amendments proposed by MPs from the Albanian Alliance, Ilir Čapunji, and the Bosniak Party did not pass…

Amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism were also approved, requiring anyone conducting transactions or offering services involving cryptocurrencies to register with the Register of Service Providers Related to Cryptoassets.

Transactions in cryptocurrencies exceeding 1,000 euros, alongside cash transactions ranging from 2,000 to 100,000 euros, depending on the nature and purpose, will undergo special oversight. The only exception applies to games of chance, where organizers must collect data from all players making payments of 20 euros or more in a single or multiple linked transactions.

Support was expressed for amendments to the Law on the National Security Agency (ANB), aimed at reorganizing internal controls, reviewing actions taken by ANB officials to ensure legality, and introducing an independent controller responsible for reporting any discrepancies to the ANB director.

Further votes were held on amendments to the Law on Credit Institutions, the Bill on Financial Conglomerates, and the Bill on Alternative Investment Funds. The Bill on Open-Ended Investment Funds with Public Offering was also favorably received.

The Parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Official Statistics and the Official Statistics System, alongside the acceptance of one amendment from the Legislative Committee.

News