Media Regulation in Montenegro in the EU Association Process

- Presentation speakers
  - Dragic Rabrenovic, Director of Radio Bijelo Polje, Montenegro
- Download presentation
  - Dragic Rabrenovic Media Regulation in Montenegro in the EU Association Process.pdf
Abstract:

The process of accession of the southeast European countries to the EU is a long and multistage process which includes a series of transitions that this country needs to overcome. The countries of Western Balkan, including Montenegro are facing a series of challenges to be overcome in order to join the family of European countries. With the goal of complying to political, legal and economic requirements with the standards regulated by the EU, it is necessary to transform a variety of areas. Legislation is the basis for incorporation of each of them, so the application of European principles is of great importance in the further process of joining, as well as in further path to democratic values and the rule of law. Some of the most important areas are already considered, next to them besides fighting crime and corruption, faced by all post-communist countries in the region, certainly the struggle for the realization of basic human rights. The human rights and freedoms include the freedom of expression and media freedom. This paper aims to highlight the importance of the media in the process of joining the European Union, which means that we will analyze the media legislation in Montenegro. The main objective is to indicate the main features of legislation in this area through content analysis. In the introduction, we will present the Montenegrin media system, after what we will take a look at the laws that pre-date and in the end we will talk about the current regulations. We will talk about the laws that are in force, their development and what are their main characteristics. About how they are compliant with European regulations and recommendations and what is the prospect of these laws. In this work we will look at the law makers, then at the regulators and the media, as well as end users. We will also talk about law implementation, importance of their implementation on different levels. While we especially emphasize the importance of these laws to preserve press freedom and contribution to EU accession. We will explore how the Montenegrin media legislation aligned with EU.