The “Action against economic crime in Montenegro” will follow up on the already provided and upcoming key recommendations of the monitoring bodies of the Council of Europe - Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) as well as the requirements of evolving EU acquis in these areas. Through this work, it seeks to improve the rule of law in Montenegro.

This action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, running from 2023 until 2026.

What are the goals and objectives of the action?

• increased efficiency, effectiveness and impartiality in processing high-level corruption cases by anti-corruption institutions and the criminal justice system;
• enhanced effectiveness of the anti-money laundering (AML) and countering terrorist financing (CFT) policies and improved track-record in processing money laundering cases.

Who benefits from the action?

• Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Agency for Prevention of Corruption, Prosecutors (Special Prosecutor’s Office), Judiciary, Police Directorate (Criminal Police and FIU), Protector of property interests of Montenegro, Revenue and Customs Administration
• other sectors of the society benefiting from the improved rule of law and economic development
• financial and non-financial businesses and professions
• people of Montenegro

How does the action work?

• by providing expert advice and recommendations for improvement of the regulatory and operational frameworks;
• by offering trainings, workshops, case mentoring, and development of necessary IT tools aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the authorities;
• it builds on the results of co-operation under previous two phases of the programme: Action against economic crime in Montenegro between 2016 and 2019 and between 2019 and 2022;
• by using and effectively applying the numerous new policy and legislative tools developed through the previous phases, it drives the fundamental reforms towards establishing credible track record in the fight against corruption and money laundering and actual change of entrenched inefficient practices in this area.

What do we expect to achieve?

• enhanced strategic approach to prevention of corruption and anti-money laundering;
• strengthened capacities of the anti-corruption bodies, law enforcement agencies and judiciary, reporting entities and supervisory bodies to detect and analyse and process suspicions of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as providing guidance and train staff on implementation of newly adopted legal instruments;
• greater compliance with international standards;
• improved rule of law in Montenegro.

What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the action is 845 000 EUR.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).
 

How to get more information?

• Council of Europe: Economic crime and Co-operation Division
• Horizontal Facility website and e-mail address
   

About Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.