A twinning project has started that will improve air quality reporting

The project is implemented by the Environmental Protection Agencies of Austria and Montenegro

EU members continue to assist Montenegro in building its administrative capacity. This time it is a new twinning light project "Upgrading the integrated tool and updating the inventory of air pollutant emissions for the period 2011-2019", which was presented by the Austrian Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt) and the Environmental Protection Agency of Montenegro at a conference organized at the EU InfoCentre. This capacity building project will transfer Austria's knowledge and experience to Montenegro.

The general goal of the project is for Montenegro to independently report emissions of air pollutants in the future, which is one of the final criteria in Chapter 27 - Environment and Climate Change. Twinning partners will achieve this through various types of capacity building training, but also by upgrading the software solution and updating the inventory of air pollutants.

During the conference, Sladjan Maslac from the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro pointed out that environmental protection is one of the most important areas of membership negotiations, and that the issue of air quality is no exception.

"Recently, we have invested around one million euros in the air quality monitoring system, and we also have numerous smaller technical projects. This twinning project is a continuation of our assistance to Montenegro, the development of an air quality monitoring system, which should be for the benefit of citizens in the first place, and at the same time help Montenegro meet the obligations defined by European legislation, "said Maslac.

Iva Vujović from the Directorate for Financing and Contracting of EU Aid stated that one of the main obstacles in resolving issues related to air quality is the lack of administrative capacity at all levels, and that this project should help remove that obstacle.

"There is no doubt that adequate ecological infrastructure is a precondition for the overall development of society and at the same time, necessary for successful negotiations on accession to the European Union." Therefore, the significance of this project lies in the fact that it enables the sustainability of the national inventory system for emissions of pollutants into the air and emissions of greenhouse gases. "Thanks to that, Montenegro will contribute to reducing emissions of air pollutants, mitigating climate change and preserving the environment," Vujovic said.

The project Upgrading the integrated tool and updating the inventory of air pollutant emissions for the period 2011-2019 ”will last for the next 8 months. Its total value is 250,000 euros.