The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) has fully aligned its regulations in the field of payment transactions with the legal framework of the European Union (EU), announced the governor of the supreme monetary institution, Irena Radović.
“An external analysis of the alignment of Montenegrin legislation with the requirements of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), supported by the European Commission (EC), confirmed a high degree of compliance with the domestic regulatory framework, recognizing our previous efforts,” Radović said at a regional high-level meeting titled Western Balkans Towards SEPA, held in Tirana on Wednesday.
Radović added that this is an additional incentive for the CBCG and the Government to continue activities towards meeting the remaining requirements for joining SEPA.
She also announced that intensive activities are underway to prepare the application for Montenegro’s accession to SEPA, which will be submitted to the European Payments Council in the coming period.
Radović participated in the meeting, which brought together central bank governors and finance ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, within the framework of the summit of the leaders of the Western Balkan countries on the Growth and Convergence Plan for the Western Balkans.
The CBCG statement reported that the meeting concluded that Western Balkan countries are making good progress in aligning their national payment systems with EU standards as part of their SEPA accession goals.
“The meeting participants presented activities that individual countries are undertaking to join SEPA, while representatives of the World Bank (WB) presented the results of the Modernization of Payment Systems project for Western Balkan countries,” the statement said.
Through this project, funded by the European Union (EU), support is provided to Western Balkan countries in their approximation to EU standards and meeting the conditions for integration into SEPA.
The meeting concluded that the accession of Western Balkan countries to SEPA will contribute to the economic integration of the region and bring tangible benefits to citizens and the economy, in terms of simplifying processes, improving speed, and reducing transaction costs.
