The Agency for Prevention of Corruption, in co-operation with the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) organised, on June 21^st in CentreWille Hotel, a workshop on the following topic: "Raising the level of awareness about the Law on Lobbying and its application" under the IPA 2014 twining project “Support to the implementation of integrity measures”.

The aim of the workshop was to familiarise the representatives of different institutions with the importance of the application of lobbying and, in particular, how to become a lobbyist, duties and obligations of lobbyists and lobbied persons, together with the best practices in the field of lobbying at the international level. Additionally, on this occasion, the attendees were presented a brochure on the topic of lobbying which the Agency prepared in co-operation with Italian experts. In the opening speech, the audience was addressed by the ANAC experts, Ms. Sonja Levstik and Mr. Gulio Carini, as well as by Head of Department for Lobbying and Integrity, Mr. Mladen Tomović.

Mr. Carini presented the audience the procedures of lobbying, the leading principles and the best practices in this domain in the countries of the European Union, with the special emphasis on Italy. Also, Mr. Carini mentioned the existing mechanisms of supervision and sanction and how to achieve the transparency in lobbying. In the second part of the workshop, Mr. Tomović familiarised the audience with the rights, obligations and responsibilities of lobbyists and lobbied persons, how to become a lobbyist, what is and what is not lobbying, as well as the differences in lobbying between Montenegro and the EU. He also emphasised that, in addition to the legal framework established by the Law on Lobbying, which provides for the introduction of lobbying to legal channels, we must continue our work on the creation of the conditions for the revival of this institute in the Montenegrin society.

Also, Mr. Tomović presented the competencies and the previous results of the Agency in terms of lobbying and that the Agency had sent 19 public calls for the examination for lobbying where 12 candidates passed the exam, while two natural persons, after the approval of their request, were registered in the Lobbyist Registry as officially the first lobbyists in Montenegro. Since the establishment of the Agency, this institution, said Tomović, had organised a number of educational campaigns and trainings in terms of informing state employees and the public about the importance of lobbying as a legitimate and favourable manner of influence on the process of making decisions in the public interest. Until now, reminded Tomović, the Agency had made 20,000 copies of "Lobby Lawfully" flyers, which contain general information on the Law on Lobbying, together with billboards at 15 locations and City Light posters at 30 locations throughout Montenegro.

The Law on Lobbying, whose supervision and implementation is controlled by the Agency, was adopted on December 9^th 2014 and lobbying is defined as the activity which influences legislative and executive authorities at state and local level.

The Agency for Prevention of Corruption is the beneficiary of the IPA 2014 twining project "Support to the implementation of integrity measures", which is implemented together with the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC), as the partner institution from the EU.