As part of the Good Governance Activity in Montenegro, EWMI has delivered comprehensive Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) Capacity Building to government officials in multiple ministries in Montenegro (as well as to Parliamentarians through this and a related EU-funded project).  This capacity building and support has included development of a RIA Manual that has since been requested by other USAID projects in the region, highly practical workshops delivered to over 100 participants in Montenegro, targeted assistance on specific RIAs, and a study tour to acquaint Montenegrin government officials in the emerging RIA Unit at the Ministry of Finance, and at other ministries, with Ireland’s experiences in the establishment and implementation of RIA procedures in accordance with European Union requirements.

Led by Assistant Minister Boskovic, the Study Tour included members from the Ministry of Finance RIA Unit and other ministries.  The Tour took place from March 5th-9th, 2012 and met with Members of Parliament, officials in several ministries in charge of RIAs, as well as the former central RIA Unit and the well-respected Irish Business Registry. The Study Tour was extremely successful as study tour participants were keen to learn about how things work, as well as the common pitfalls and workarounds in implementation.  Although Ireland’s proactivity on the regulatory front has suffered from the economic recession facing the country, past performance and recent RIAs were both very instructive.  Moreover, the challenges revealed by the economic recession helped identify some of the key hurdles in implementing a RIA regime.