On 12 June 2026, Institute Alternative organised its second media brunch, at which it presented its latest monitoring report on Policy Development and Coordination. The media were also presented with the results in the previously monitored areas: Strategic Framework for Public Administration Reform (Montenegro ranked 4th), Service Delivery and Digitalisation (5th), Civil Service and Human Resource Management (5th), and Public Financial Management (3rd).

In the latest area, Policy Development and Coordination, Montenegro ranked first among the countries in the region, scoring 41 out of a possible 100 points. This result indicates that Montenegro performs better than its regional countries, but also highlights the need for significant improvements in government transparency, public policy planning, and citizen participation in policy development. Between November 2025 and January 2026, the Government of Montenegro held 32 sessions, 22 of which were conducted by telephone, accounting for 69% of all sessions. Session materials are also published regularly, but only 17% were made available within seven days of the respective sessions. Particularly concerning is the fact that when agenda items are classified as confidential, citizens receive no information whatsoever about the items or the subjects under discussion.

Although there is currently no legal obligation to publish minutes of Government sessions, this requirement has been introduced in the Draft Law on the Government, which is currently under parliamentary consideration. Over the past three years, the Government has adopted annual work programmes for 2024, 2025 and 2026, as well as the Government’s Mid-Term Work Programme for 2024–2027. All these documents have been published, and all except the Mid-Term Work Programme were published in a timely manner, within seven days of adoption.

Reports on the implementation of the Government’s Annual Work Programmes for 2025 and 2026, which also serve as annual reports on the implementation of the Mid-Term Work Programme, were likewise published regularly and within the prescribed timeframe. The Government adopted the Programme for Montenegro’s Accession to the European Union for 2024–2027, as well as programmes for the periods 2025–2026 and 2026–2027, together with reports on their implementation. All these documents were published regularly and on time. However, the reports are available exclusively in PDF format, while the Report on the Implementation of Montenegro’s EU Accession Programme for 2026 is available as a scanned PDF, making the document impossible to search. Furthermore, no datasets from the Ministry of European Affairs, which is responsible for reporting on the implementation of the EU Accession Programme, have been published on the Open Data Portal. Nor have any datasets relating to the implementation of the Government’s work programmes been made available.

The research also revealed a low level of public participation in the early stages of drafting legislation and strategic documents. Between November 2024 and November 2025, early public consultations were conducted for only 4% of strategic documents (3 out of 72) and 5% of laws (7 out of 155). Regarding public consultations, including public debates, the monitoring found that, out of the 227 strategic documents and laws examined, public debates were held for 30.56% of strategic documents and 40.65% of adopted laws. Although the monitoring period covered November 2024 to November 2025, these findings reflect a persistent pattern. During the 28th parliamentary convocation, public debates were held for only 46% of laws submitted by the Government. Of additional concern is the fact that calls for public debates were published on the e-Government Portal in only 24% of these cases, while no comments were submitted through the Portal, despite its functionality allowing users to provide feedback. Even when the competent ministries publish calls for public debates, they do not appear to encourage the use of the Portal for this purpose. The calls typically instruct participants to submit their comments and suggestions by email or post, without mentioning the e-Government Portal as an option. The monitoring also covered regulatory impact assessment (RIA), including the use of the RIA form. In addition to the Rules of Procedure of the Government, which provide for RIA to be conducted for laws and other regulations, the Government adopted new Guidelines on Conducting Regulatory Impact Assessments in January 2026.

These Guidelines provide more detailed rules on the circumstances in which RIA must be conducted, covering laws, strategies, action plans, decrees and other instruments. However, the Guidelines will enter into force on 1 January 2027 and therefore fell outside the monitoring period. For laws proposed by the Government, RIA was conducted in 93% of cases, which is a positive result. However, none of the assessments addressed the impact on gender equality, an aspect that is not currently a legal requirement in Montenegro. For strategic documents, RIA was conducted in 44% of cases. Public opinion surveys also revealed a negative trend. When asked whether they had opportunities to participate in the development of laws and strategies, as many as 69% of citizens said they believed they had no such opportunities.