The governments of Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates should align the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Tourism and Real Estate Development with the EU acquis and Montenegro’s legal system, the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic, says following the European Commission’s response regarding the Agreement.
“I want to thank the European Commission for the submitted opinion on the Agreement between Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It confirms what I was indicating from the start – that the content of the disputed Agreement is such that its implementation would not be in line with the EU acquis, and that it was necessary to organize a public debate on this Agreement in Montenegro and ex-ante consult the European Union, whose full member state we want to become,” President Milatovic notes.
As he stated, as the president of the country, he signed the Agreement on Economic Cooperation with the UAE believing it would open up space for improving cooperation and strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
“However, I did not sign the disputed Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Tourism and Real Estate Development as I considered that it opened up numerous questions regarding its compliance with the constitutional and legal order of Montenegro, but also its implementation in relation to the EU acquis,” the President points out.
As he adds, the EC opinion suggests that the mentioned Agreement, prima facie, does not contain provisions detailed enough that would be directly in conflict with the EU acquis.
Therefore, President Milatovic urges the Government of Montenegro to revise the text of the existing Agreement, together with the UAE, in order to define clear, precise and legally sustainable provisions of the Agreement that would be fully aligned with both the EU acquis and Montenegro’s legal system.
