Support to Montenegro in fulfilling requirements under Chapter 27 of the EU Acquis and related capacity building

This project is financed under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) as part of the Annual Action Plan for 2021 in favour of Montenegro. The overall objective is to support Montenegro's alignment with the EU acquis under Chapter 27 (Environment and Climate Change) of the accession negotiations, while simultaneously aiming to increase the Institutional Administrative Capacity for implementation and enforcement.

The technical assistance targets 9 core sectors: Air Quality, Industrial Pollution, Chemicals, Noise Prevention, Civil Protection, Climate Change, waste management, institutional strengthening and functional analysis, wastewater. The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Region Development (MESDNRD) serves as the lead beneficiary, alongside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other relevant bodies. Key deliverables across these areas include developing capacity building on air emissions projections and strengthening capacities for air quality modelling. In the field of industrial pollution, the project aims to establish the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR), or Pollutant Cadastre, with an online reporting tool and public access. For chemicals management, the project will establish Registers of chemicals and biocidal products and ensure the national Chemicals Helpdesk is fully operational. Regarding noise, outputs include preparing Strategic Noise Maps for thirteen main road sections and developing corresponding action plans, along with creating adequate software for noise level data management. In Climate Change, support is mandated for establishing the National system for policies and measures (PAMs), implementing the LULUCF Regulation, and achieving full operationalization of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) elements in Montenegro.

The contract is managed by the Ministry of Public Works (Contracting Authority) and is scheduled for implementation over a period of 36 months, commencing in November 2025.