04 February 2008 Podgorica _ Montenegro is set to receive more European Union funding per capita than any other country in the Balkans, in the coming years.Between now and 2010, the European Commission, EC, has allocated some €131.3 million for Montenegro, according to European Pulse, an electronic publication charting Montenegro’s path to European integration.
Montenegro will be a recipient of European funding through a new form of support – the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, IPA.

Together with other candidate countries, Montenegro can claim assistance in the fields of transition assistance and institution building, as well as regional and cross-border cooperation.
Of the money allocated for 2008, the largest amount of funds will go to “strengthening the infrastructure and management of the transportation sector.” This includes a by-pass road in the capital, Podgorica (€ 4 million) and strengthening the administrative capacities in the Ministry of Transport and its directorates (€ 2.2 million).

In its next proposal, Montenegro’s government plans to allocate €4.5 million for reform of local government and improvements in the Agency for Environmental Protection. The same amount is allocated for the construction of small infrastructural projects relating to environment conservation.
Within the cross-border and regional cooperation areas, where the goal is to eliminate borders in the long-term, Montenegro participates in seven projects, five with its neighbours and two transnational ones.

The Secretary of the Montenegro’s Secretariat for European Integration, Ana Vukadinovic says the primary goal of the funding is to motivate municipalities, non-governmental organisations, universities to develop schemes that would benefit local communities.
“It is of utmost importance to have these organisations cooperate with similar organisations abroad, to work together on projects that would advance economic issues, tourism potential and stimulate overall economic growth,” Vukadinovic said.