<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an interview with the Mina-business agency, he said that joining the European regime will mean lower roaming prices, but will also eliminate the established practice of most citizens turning off data transmission when crossing the border, in order to avoid unexpected costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Srzenti\u0107 said that the inclusion process depends on the dynamics with which Montenegro produces what is required of it, but that representatives of EKIP, the Ministry of Economic Development, as the relevant authority, and other competent institutions can guarantee that they will do everything to make this happen before the beginning of next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He believes that the obligations regarding the harmonization of existing and the adoption of new laws, and obtaining positive opinions, will be completed in the next few months, or by mid-year, after which a period must be left for operators to implement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"It's not just about our operators, but also European ones, who have to harmonize their systems so that their users can use services in Montenegro as in Europe. In the case of Ukraine and Moldova, that period lasted five months,\" explained Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The completion of the process, among other things, depends on the time when the European Commission (EC) will give its opinion, but EKIP is relying on the announcements of its highest officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"We are counting on their proverbial promptness, especially considering the statement by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who announced in October that Montenegro would join this year,\" Srzenti\u0107 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that joining the European roaming regime will lead to complete relaxation in terms of costs, but will also ensure easier communication for everyone who travels to the EU for private or business purposes. This means that all services, from calls to text messages to data transfer, will be used in the same way as at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"A minute of call from the EU to Montenegro or another destination currently costs between 1.3 and 2.2 EUR. After joining the market, you will talk to family and friends using the minutes you have in your package in national traffic. If you do not have them, the maximum price that can be applied will be the same as when you call from one network to another in Montenegro, meaning a maximum of 20 cents, which is ten times lower than the current prices,\" Srzenti\u0107 specified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that incoming calls, which are currently charged between 60 and 90 cents, will become completely free within the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Srzenti\u0107 recalled that data transfer prices have recently been reduced, thanks to a declaration from 2022, which obliges European and domestic operators to gradually reduce the price of services, with the condition of purchasing certain packages in advance. For these packages, as he explained, a fixed price is paid, regardless of consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Here, as in the case of calls, you spend megabytes, or rather gigabytes that you have within the national package. When you eventually use them, the maximum price of a gigabyte from January 1st of the following year cannot be higher than one EUR,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He announced that the EC's proposal to open negotiations with the Western Balkan countries on their inclusion in the European roaming regime does not include a deadline, given that each country has its own pace of fulfilling its obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"This is a bilateral process in which all deadlines and dynamics depend on both sides,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recalled that the EC recently submitted a proposal to the EU Council to allow the opening of negotiations with the Western Balkan countries, thereby effectively requesting a mandate to conduct individual negotiations with each of the countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"This has been talked about for several years, but the first formal step in this direction was taken at the end of July, when the EC informed the governments of the Western Balkans of the EU's intention to open the doors of its roaming market to them,\" Srzenti\u0107 specified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that, during the autumn, several meetings were held with EC representatives, at which the Western Balkan countries were presented with a set of regulatory regulations that they must individually transpose into their legislation in order to meet the conditions for accession to the European market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Srzenti\u0107 stated that in early November, EKIP formed a working group that began the so-called GEP analysis, which determined which of the necessary legal norms regarding roaming Montenegro had already implemented in its legislation, what needed to be done and what was the most efficient way to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"I can say that in record time, already in mid-December, we have made the first drafts of all documents. These are amendments to the Law on Electronic Communications, which need to be harmonized with the EU umbrella act, namely the Directive on the Electronic Communications Code, as well as four regulations,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that these four regulations define some specific aspects of roaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Based on that analysis, in mid-December we prepared the first drafts of amendments to the Law on Electronic Communications, as well as regulations on regulated roaming services and fair use of services in the area of \u200b\u200bregulated roaming, and a draft decision on setting maximum prices for voice call termination in the Union,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that at one of those meetings, the EC proposed that time be spent rationally and that no formal start of negotiations should be waited for, but that each country submit drafts individually, in order to receive further input for improving the documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Srzenti\u0107 announced that Montenegro was the first to do so, and that the drafts were sent to the EC for consideration through the Ministry of Economic Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"We are waiting to receive the first response, after which we would make any changes they suggest to us and then submit those acts for public debate, and then for adoption. The law, at the proposal of the Government, is adopted by the Parliament, and other bylaws, or regulations, are adopted by EKIP,\" explained Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Montenegro receives the final opinion of the EC and harmonizes its legal acts, the conditions are met for the EU Council to be notified that the negotiations have been completed and the conditions for accession to the European market have been met. This is followed by the signing of a bilateral agreement between the EU and Montenegro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"It is good that this act does not have to be approved by all EU member states separately, but rather the Council or the EC will do it on its behalf. The agreement, which will follow at the end of the negotiations, will also define the date of commencement of implementation,\" explained Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that it was of invaluable benefit to everyone to have gone through a similar process in 2021, when it came to a regional roaming agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"This is more or less the same matter that is now applied on the territory of the EU. Now, compared to what we had in the regional agreement, we have to change the items regarding harmonisation with new Union acts,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this process, the EC will have the mandate to assess the compliance of the acts, as well as the capacity of the institutions to implement the agreement, and will retain the right to suspend in the event that it assesses that a country does not meet the requirements in terms of quality or strict rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"So, they will assess our capacities and readiness to implement the agreement. Based on the experience we have gained in the regional agreement, I am fully convinced that we have the necessary capacities and that we will complete the obligations on time and with the necessary quality,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He announced that mobile operators have also gone through an adjustment process when it comes to the regional roaming agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"In early December, we organized a meeting with operators and we agree that we should follow the example of cooperation as in the regional agreement. We are fully aware that a lot of work will be on them and that they must harmonize technical, user and billing systems, and revise contracts with over 90 European operators in a commercial and legal sense, in order to be ready to welcome the connection,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that mobile operators will be given the opportunity to make comments during a public hearing that will be organized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"We hope to receive suggestions that will improve the acts and that after signing the agreement, during the implementation period, we will provide detailed guidelines for operators, which will be helpful to them,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montenegro's joining the European roaming regime, in addition to reducing costs, will also enable some other dimensions, which are very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"This is among the first, and perhaps the first EU market that Montenegro or any Western Balkan country will access on a completely equal footing. So, everything that is applied to the first EU members will also apply to Montenegro. This is a big test for our institutions, to show that we can be part of the European story on a completely equal footing with the others,\" added Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recalled the previous practice of turning off data transmission on the device upon arrival at the border, changing the card to a foreign one, or switching to free WiFi connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"The goal of the agreement is to eliminate these induced practices, because our citizens will no longer have the need for them, since they will use roaming as they would at home,\" said Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Montenegro could become a member of the European roaming market at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, depending on the dynamics with which it meets the necessary prerequisites for inclusion, announced the representative of the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (EKIP), Milan Srzenti\u0107.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":927975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[188,24951,24940,24961,10273],"naslovna":[],"class_list":["post-927819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drustvo","tag-crna-gora","tag-devropski-rezim","tag-milan-srzentic","tag-pocetak-naredne-godine","tag-roming"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5710665_srn_ls.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928096,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927819\/revisions\/928096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/927975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927819"},{"taxonomy":"naslovna","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gradski.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naslovna?post=927819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}