Council of Europe provides legal and policy advice to many of its member state which are on the path of joining the European Union.

To this end, a Legal Opinion on three main laws regulating media in Montenegro – on Media, on Audio Visual Media Services, and on the National Public Broadcaster - was prepared for the government. The document provides recommendations on the harmonisation of the laws with the European standards, such as the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, practice of the European Court of Human Rights, and the EU Directive on Audiovisual Media Services.

This is particularly important considering that Montenegro’s participation in the MEDIA and Cross-Sectorial Strands of Creative Europe Programme has been suspended pending full harmonisation and adoption of the media laws. The Ministry of Culture of Montenegro is currently organising rounds of consultations with the Council of Europe experts and main stakeholders, in order to implement the recommendations. Following this action, the Ministry of Culture will proceed with further consultations with the European Commission, to finalise the legislation.

This process is supported through the joint action "Protecting Freedom of Expression and of the Media in Montenegro”, implemented by the Council of Europe’s Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression, within the joint European Union - Council of Europe programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”