Montenegro’s Parliamentary Committee on Health, Labour and Social Welfare has endorsed a draft Law on Social Economy aimed at improving access to employment for the country’s most vulnerable groups.
Presenting the draft legislation, Biljana Vučetić, Director of the Directorate for Social Entrepreneurship at the relevant ministry, explained that social economy is a business model rooted in European practice, in which social objectives and public interest take priority. It is designed to create employment opportunities for people facing barriers in the labour market, including persons with disabilities and the long-term unemployed, while also supporting services that respond to local community needs.
Vučetić stressed that social economy is not intended to replace the social protection system or existing active employment measures, but rather to complement them.
Although organisations and businesses operating according to these principles already exist in Montenegro, the country has so far lacked a comprehensive legal framework defining the conditions for obtaining social enterprise status, their obligations and mechanisms for monitoring their social contribution.
A key element of the proposed legislation is the obligation to reinvest part of the economic results into the development of business activities and initiatives that benefit local communities. Committee member Boris Mugoša welcomed the proposal but cautioned that its practical impact would depend on the institutional capacity to implement it and deliver the expected results.
The Committee also accepted an initiative by MP Milena Vuković to hold a joint session with the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget. The session will include a consultative hearing with ministers Novica Vuković and Damir Gutić on possible adjustments and increases to financial benefits for mothers with three or more children.
