After Closing Chapter 20: Focus on Resilience and Competitiveness of Montenegrin Industry

The Ministry of Economic Development, in cooperation with the European Commission, DG ENEST, organized the TAIEX workshop "Identifying and Addressing Strategic Dependencies in Line with the EU Industrial Policy" as part of Montenegro's accession process to the European Union. Director General of the Directorate for Industry and Craft Development, Renata Milutinović, stated that strategic dependencies are particularly significant for Montenegro, given its reliance on imports of raw materials, energy sources, equipment, technologies, and other inputs in certain areas. "It is important to better understand where these dependencies exist in the Montenegrin economy, which of them may have strategic importance, and where there are opportunities to mitigate them through diversification, development of domestic capacities, regional cooperation, or reliable international partnerships," Milutinović emphasized. "The goal of this workshop is to better understand, through the experience of EU member states and experts, how strategic dependencies are identified, assessed, and addressed in practice, and to see how this approach can be adapted to the Montenegrin context," she added. Key elements of the European approach to strategic dependencies were presented through the EU Industrial Policy, the EU working document on strategic dependencies and capacities, the Regulation on Critical Raw Materials, and the Industry Act with a zero net emission target, by TAIEX experts from Finland, Poland, and Germany. With the closure of Chapter 20, Montenegro has taken an important step in the EU accession process, and activities like this aim to translate commitments into concrete policies and measures that reduce strategic dependencies and strengthen resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability of Montenegrin industry.