Institute Publications

The purpose of this report is to identify and analyse policies put in place by the country to improve transparency in access to social protection, considering both access to information and simplification of access. The report focuses on the six social protection branches covered in the 2019 Council Recommendation on Access to social protection for workers and the self-employed (hereafter “2019 Council Recommendation”) and covers policies and measures implemented between January 2017 and May 2022.

There are no specific policies that the Montenegrin government has adopted in order to ensure access to information on social protection rights, entitlements and obligations. The main national strategic document on social protection (the strategy for the development of the social and child protection system for 2018-2022) does not define any goals, targets or measures in this area, but envisages the provision of information to all citizens and beneficiaries as a continuous activity.

In order to ensure the availability of information on social protection, the main practice of all government bodies (including the Employment Agency of Montenegro, Health Insurance Fund, Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, Institute for Social and Child Protection, and ministries) is to present all information on official websites in the form of leaflets or sets of information. However, there are no interlinkages or cross-referencing between those websites.

In addition, beneficiaries may obtain information by phone or in person at the regional and local offices of the Employment Agency of Montenegro (on unemployment benefits), the Health Insurance Fund (on sickness and health benefits), the Centre for Social Work (on maternity and paternity benefits, and on invalidity benefits), and the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (on old-age benefits and survivors’ benefits, and benefits related to accidents at work and to occupational diseases).

Read more: ESPN Thematic Report on Making access to social protection for workers and the self-employed more transparent through information and simplification - Montenegro (2022)

Publication can be downloaded by clicking on this link.