e-Democracy (ME0058)

E-Democracy
Commencement and completion dates: January 2019 - December 2019
Responsible institution
MPA The Secretariat General (SG) to the Government of Montenegro (GoM) The Union of Municipalities (UoM) Local self-governments The Tax Administration (TA) NGOs
Commitment
The issue at stake
Ineffective implementation of the legal framework for policy development reduces the quality of public consultations as an essential part of the process, and in turn demotivates citizen participation. A particular challenge in this context is the reporting on consultation processes and timely feedback to participants in such processes, which led to the process being perceived as closed and one-sided. By way of their layout and functionality, webpages of local self-governments should contain the set of information/data and services in line with the minimum standards to be met, which should be collected in separate Guidelines for Technical Specifications of web portals. Lack of data on customer satisfaction with provision of public services affects successful reforming of public services and may have an adverse impact on public trust in the government and lead to biased evaluation of its work. Mandatory social insurance payments (mandatory retirement and disability contributions, mandatory health insurance and unemployment insurance) fall underthe rights and obligations of workers and employers under the Law on Mandatory
Social Insurance Contributions (Official Gazette of Montenegro 13/07, 79/08, 86/09, 78/10, 14/12, 62/13, 08/15, 22/17). Citizens need quick access to check whether and in what amounts such payments have been made without any administrative hurdles or any need to physically visit relevant institutions.
Commitment
The above commitment requires opening new online tools for public consultations in policy-making process – a userfriendly and quick means of interactions between the public administration and business association, CSOs, the academia and the general public. It is expected that e-Participation and e-Petitions tools will be used more by individuals and institutions in developing and revising policies, and for filing petitions at the local and central levels. Standardisation of web-based portals facilitates communication processes, creates a relevant online information and service tools at the local level aimed at achieving greater consistency. Measuring customer satisfaction with public services implies assessing expectations, service quality and effects of service delivery in different areas of customer experience to give timely feedback to public institutions by examining citizen attitudes in service efficiency, staff approachability, usefulness of the information obtained, etc. “Does Your Employer Pay Contributions?” online service and mobile app will ensure timely information and response by workers to protect their labour rights through inspection of data on payments of mandatory contributions, registration/deregistration dates, updating of other data and preliminary checks of M4 forms without any need physically visit the relevant service provider.
How will it help address the issue
Fostering e-democracy implies additional encouragement of citizens in a social process and passing of decisions affecting their lives and community viability. E-participation enables more transparent and easier involvement in public consultation processes in shaping public policies in line with applicable legislation. E-petition, as a free online tool for petition generation and endorsement, and delivery to decision-makers, offers an additional option for proposing solutions for better functioning of a community or parts thereof.
Standardised local self-government portals will bring closer and make more consistent the online presentations of municipalities, adding to recognisability and boosting interactions with citizens, opening in functional terms new channels for feedback on various aspects of public policies and service provision. Surveys of citizens and business satisfaction with services provided by the administration and public institutions will be used to optimise business processes and streamline existing administrative and other procedures and relieve the red tape for citizens and businesses. Detection and reporting of infrastructural problems foster civic responsibility, help increase safety, protect environment and by extension, improve living and working conditions. Introduction of the online service and mobile application “Does Your Employer Pay Contributions?" provides for the necessary level of control and responsibility of citizens/workers for protection of own rights.
Its relevance to OGP values
The above commitment (with the accompanying actions) is fully compatible with the principles of transparency and public participation, since it has practical consequences to daily lives of common people and their guaranteed rights.
Additional information
Compatibility with SDGs Reference to SDG 16: ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’ 16.6 – Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels 16.7 – Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels The actions to be taken under this commitment will reinforce decision-making by policy-makers in consultations with members of the public, the civil society, businesses, the academia and other stakeholders. This commitment is consistent with the GoM’s strategic orientations as set in the 2018-2020 PAR Strategy and the 2018- 2020 Strategy for Creating an Enabling Environment for the Work of NGOs and the accompanying Action Plan, as well as the DEU-supported project “Technical Cooperation for the Development of Institutional Mechanisms for the Cooperation between the Government and Civil Society Organisations in Montenegro” in reference to the component on strengthening legislative and institutional framework for public consultations.
BUDGET €88,150
Actions with verifiable results and implementation dates
2.1. e-Participation’ (MPA) - €20,000 - at least 30 public calls for consultations with the interested public published annually - at least 30 public calls for consultations on draft laws published annually - at least 100 comments provided by the interested public using this service in 2019 - at least 50 public calls for NGO participation to working groups published - the 2019 annual report on the implementation of the Decree on Selecting NGO Representatives to Working Bodies of State Administration Authorities and Public Consultations while Drafting Laws and Strategies made with the recommendations and evaluations in line with the findings
2.2. e-Petitions (MPA and SG to GoM) – €30,000 - extend the platform to include local self-government units and upgrade the service, putting in place the assumptions for its further upgrade -e-Petitions introduced a the local level
2.3. Standardisation of local self-governments’ web portals (MPA and UoM) - €1,150 - guidelines developed – Standardised Guidelines for local web portals - training for implementing the Standardised Guidelines delivered - monitor the implementation of the Standardised Guidelines in line with the recommendations for minimum standards in regard to the web portal contents (information posted, services available, databases, local budget, etc.)
2.4. Customer satisfaction surveys at the point of service, and result analysis using appropriate tools – €2,000 - 4 institutions where customer satisfaction survey tools will be installed in 2019 identified - customer satisfaction survey tools in place for 30% of services provided in each institution covered - presentation of findings and recommendations
2.5. Ensure citizen participation in detection and addressing infrastructure issues at the local and central levels (MPA, LSG, NGO) - €15,000 - an online tool for reporting infrastructural issues/deficiencies or launching initiatives developed - 20% more reports - 80% reports acted upon
2.6. Set up the “Does Your Employer Pay Contributions?" application and the online tool for checking M4 forms(Tax Administration, Pension and Disability Fund) – €20,000 - the tool available at the web portal and Tax Administration and Pension and Disability Fund’s webpages - generate statistical reports on the use of the tool to be published in Tax Administration’s annual activity reports
Points of contact
Responsible person in the implementing entity Mirjana Begović, Marija Janković, MPA
Title/Department The Directorate for e-Government and Information Safety The Directorate for Good Governance and Interactions with NGOs
e-mail / phone mirjana.begovic@MPA.gov.me marija.jankovic@MPA.gov.me

2. E-Democracy

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The above commitment requires opening new online tools for public consultations in policy-making process a user- friendly and quick means of interactions between the public administration and business association, CSOs, the academia and the general public. It is expected that e-Participation and e-Petitions tools will be used more by individuals and institutions in developing and revising policies, and for filing petitions at the local and central levels.

Standardization of web-based portals facilitates communication processes, creates a relevant online information and service tools at the local level aimed at achieving greater consistency.

Measuring customer satisfaction with public services implies assessing expectations, service quality and effects of service delivery in different areas of customer experience to give timely feedback to public institutions by examining citizen attitudes in service efficiency, staff approachability, usefulness of the information obtained, etc.

Does “Your Employer Pay Contributions?” online service and mobile app will ensure timely information and response by workers to protect their labor rights through inspection of data on payments of mandatory contributions, registration/deregistration dates, updating of other data and preliminary checks of M4 forms without any need physically visit the relevant service provider.”

Milestones:

2.1. e-Participation (online public consultations on Governments portal).

2.2. e-Petitions.

2.3. Standardization of local self-governments web portals.

2.4. Customer satisfaction surveys at the point of service, and result analysis using appropriate tools.

2.5. Ensure citizen participation in detection and addressing infrastructure issues at the local and central levels.

2.6. Set up the “Does Your Employer Pay Contributions?" application and the online tool for checking M4 forms.

Start Date: November 2018                                                                  

End Date: August 2020

Context and Objectives

The commitment enhances public participation in different cycles of policy-making in Montenegro. Firstly, it introduces public consultation mechanisms and online petitions at the local level. Secondly, it standardizes local government data portals and government data on tax spending to comply with international standards. Finally, it includes customer satisfaction surveys to inform public service delivery and detect infrastructure issues through an online public participation tool.

Montenegro adopted a decree on public consultations in July 2018 and created an online participation platform to facilitate public consultations. [3] However, citizens still face difficulties in accessing data on local government services and tax spending. Moreover, according to a 2019 SIGMA monitoring report on public services in Montenegro, there is currently no consistent practice for collecting data on user satisfaction to improve service delivery. [4] Furthermore, the 2019 Balkan Barometer indicates that Montenegrins are less satisfied with public service accessibility via digital channels than with public services in general. [5]

The commitment proposes several activities to address these issues. It commits to publish at least 60 calls for public consultations and receive at least 100 public comments in 2019. It also calls for extending the government’s e-petition portal (Citizen’s Voice e-Petition) to include local self-governments units. Lastly, the government plans to conduct citizen satisfaction surveys to identify recommendations in four institutions and introduce a new online tool for reporting infrastructure issues at the local and central levels.

Indicators are clear and use specific targets to measure the effects of the new tools. The commitment is relevant to the OGP value of civic participation, as it creates new possibilities for the public to engage in policymaking by extending the e-petitions portal to include local self-government units.

Overall, this commitment has a moderate potential impact on public participation in Montenegro. Importantly, this commitment prioritizes local government, which according to a study of Civic Alliance, has proven to be the “natural start” for citizen participation processes in Montenegro. [6] This commitment could improve opportunities for citizens to submit petitions and comment on draft laws. The government’s Citizen’s Voice e-Petition [7] portal was created in 2012 with the support of UNDP, but has seen limited use. [8] The proposed reduction of the minimum number of votes a petition must receive in order to require the government to respond (from 6,000 to 3,000) could reinvigorate use of the portal. [9] Furthermore, the extension of the portal to include local self-government units could improve opportunities for participation at the local level.

However, many of the initiatives proposed in the commitment (such as the standardization of data and the use of services to improve service delivery) are already part of public administration reforms and the Law of Administrative Procedures. [10] Additionally, the government’s reluctance to address authentic public initiatives in the past causes doubts about the government’s intention to address public initiatives going forward. [11] A representative of the Center of Democratic Transition supported this statement and provided an example of a previous petition from civil society that proposed the government remove the secrecy classification from the Housing Commission Act, which was dismissed. [12] Furthermore, according to a representative of the Institute of Certified Accountants (ISRCG), currently only citizens with electronic certificates can access the information under Milestone 2.6, and in next three years, a new IT system will provide this information. Parallel with this new IT system, the planned introduction of a new ID system will include electronic certificates. At the moment, without these two components, the Tax Administration will not allow access to such information due to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). [13]

Next steps

Given the potential impact of this commitment to improving citizen participation, the IRM recommends carrying it forward to the next action plan. However, it is important that the government responds to all e-petitions that meet the minimum threshold of votes. Moreover, the government could conduct citizen dialogue or communication campaigns to promote trust, as some reports and NGO representatives have identified a lack of confidence in models of public participation. [14] Lastly, the IRM recommends rolling out legally required consultations on all draft laws and cover bylaws.

[3] European Commission, “Commission Staff Working Document, Montenegro 2019 Report” (29 May 2019), https://bit.ly/2s0h3KB, 9−10.

[4] OECD, Monitoring Report: The Principles of Public Administration (May 2019), http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/Monitoring-Report-2019-Montenegro.pdf.

[5] Regional Cooperation Council, Balkan Barometer 201 – Infographics (2019), https://www.rcc.int/pubs/87/balkan-barometer-2019--infographics.

[6] Edin Koljenović, Analysis: Implementation of online tools for e-Participation in Montenegro (Boris Raonić, Apr. 2015), http://www.gamn.org/images/docs/en/Analysis-Implementation-of-online-tools-for-e-Participation-in-Montenegro.pdf.

[7] PR Service, “‘Citizen's Voice e-Petition’ platform is active again” (2 Apr. 2019), http://www.mju.gov.me/en/search/197879/Citizen-s-Voice-e-Petition-portal-is-active-again.html.

[8] UNDP Montenegro, “Democratic society & accountable institutions” (accessed 4 Feb. 2020), https://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/ourwork/democraticgovernance/in_depth.html.

[9] PR Service, “‘Citizen's Voice e-Petition’ platform is active again.”

[10] Government of Montenegro, “Montenegro: Law No. 056/14, Law on Administrative Procedure” (National Legislative Bodies / National Authorities, 24 Dec. 2014), http://bit.ly/2OrYVkC.

[11] Representative of NGO Institut Alternativa, interview by IRM researcher, 11 Sept. 2019.

[12] Milena Gvozdenovic, Centre for Democratic Transition, emails with IRM staff, 14 Feb. 2020.

[13] Information provided to the IRM by Igor Pavicevic, Institute of Certified Accountants, during the pre-publication period of this report, 19 March 2020.

[14] Edin Koljenović, Analysis: Implementation of online tools for e-Participation in Montenegro.

Commitment 2. E-democracy

Limited

This commitment aimed to enhance online public participation in policymaking in Montenegro. The commitment had six milestones: (2.1) post calls for public consultations and for draft laws on the government’s e-participation portal, (2.2) extend the government’s e-petition portal (Citizen’s Voice e-Petition) to include local self-governments, (2.3) standardize local self-government web portals, (2.4) conduct customer satisfaction surveys for points of service, (2.5) develop an online tool for reporting infrastructure issues and launching initiatives, and (2.6) set up a “Does Your Employer Pay Contributions?” application and online tool for checking M4 tax forms (forms filed by employers setting out pension and disability fund contributions paid).

The e-participation portal (2.1) is part of Montenegro’s general e-government portal. [4] There are several citizen engagement mechanisms under e-participation: e-consultations, e-public hearings, participation in working groups, and public announcements. Looking at these e-participation pages, it appears that the milestone’s original targets were mostly achieved. The portal saw 70 calls for public consultations in 2021, 47 in 2020, and 48 in 2019 (target: at least 30 calls annually). ^[5] In 2021, 32 calls for consultations on draft laws were posted, but no data for previous years exists (target: at least 30 calls on draft laws annually). ^[6] There were 203 calls for NGO participation in working groups published between January 2019 and January 2022 (target: at least 50 calls for NGO participation annually). ^[7] The milestone also set a target of receiving at least 100 comments from the public. Most institutions did not publish reports on conducted consultations. Based on a review of several recent consultations for which institutions prepared reports, only a small number (one or two at a time) of citizens and CSOs participate in consultations. Overall, use of the portal by public institutions is uneven, and it is difficult to establish if government responsiveness to the public improved during the action plan. None of the CSO representatives interviewed for this IRM report used the e-participation portal or were able to give feedback on its usefulness. Comments and feedback from CSOs are often disregarded, which affects civil society’s willingness to use the portal. Moreover, Montenegro experienced major turnover in its public administration in 2020. One interviewed civil society representative said that new government staff are still learning how to integrate e-participation into their work. [8]

This Citizen’s Voice e-Petition portal (2.2) has existed since 2012, but it was largely unused until 2019, when the government reactivated it. According to Montenegrin law, petitions that receive the support of at least 3,000 citizens within 60 days are submitted by the relevant ministry to the government for consideration. Based on the information on the portal, 71 petitions were submitted, and 16,604 citizens voted in these processes. However, in the section where all petitions are visible, only 20 are listed. Out of these 20, four met the support criteria and were submitted to the government for consideration. Of these four, one was rejected, one was partially addressed, and decisions on two are unclear, although formal documents were adopted. Importantly, it is unclear how many local self-governments (if any) use the portal. On the list of public institutions where petitions can be directed, only ministries of the national government are listed. Citizens can start petitions around local issues but cannot direct them specifically to their local self-government. Based on the limited use of the portal and the fact that most petitions, even when considered by the government, were not adopted, there is low trust among civil society in this tool as a mechanism for direct democracy.

The IRM could not find any examples of standardization of local self-government web portals in line with the “Standardised Guidelines” (2.3) from interviews or desk research. For example, Podgorica uses its website to disseminate information about public hearings [9] and citizen surveys, [10] but not for online petitions. The Public Opinion Research Agency conducted a survey of more than 1,100 citizens in March-April 2021 regarding user satisfaction of public services (2.4). [11] The survey showed that users want more online services, centralization of documents, and better visibility of information.

According to the self-assessment, nine municipalities are now part of the “section48” mobile application and webpage, which allows citizens to report information on a problem in their community and the local government must respond within 48 hours (2.5). [12] This platform has existed since before the action plan, [13] and it is unclear how many municipalities joined the service during the action plan period. The self-assessment notes that it is difficult to measure if the number of reports increased during the action plan period or if citizens’ reports were processed at the targeted rate (20 percent more reports submitted and 80 percent of reports acted upon). [14]

Per the self-assessment report, the “Does Your Employer Pay Contributions?” application was not developed (2.6). [15] The Pension and Disability Insurance Fund of Montenegro was not involved in the creation of this application, while the Customs and Revenue Administration did not provide the requested data.