UNDP Jobs - 95728- Senior Consultant for EU Accession process

Senior Consultant for EU Accession process

Location :

Podgorica, MONTENEGRO

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

21-Dec-2020

Application Deadline :

10-Dec-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

10 consultancy days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The project ”Strengthening capacities for the acceleration of EU accession of Montenegro” is aimed to assist advice and support Montenegrin EU accession negotiations through strengthening the capacities of the Office for European Integration (OEI). In addition, the project is focused on enhancing capacities of the General Secretariat of the Government to fulfil new responsibilities for coordination and monitoring of public policies. The aim is to enhance compliance and implementation of policies, and to improve internal and external government coordination in relation to accession priorities. The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by UNDP in partnership with the OEI and General Secretariat of the Government.

Objective of the project is to strengthen capacities to coordinate and lead the overall EU accession process, as well as to ensure better coherence between a number of parallel processes relevant for the EU integration. The project focuses on: strengthening the internal administrative capacities to improve negotiation aptitudes and routine government business; enhancing coordination with other line ministries; establishing efficient public policy coordination as well as supporting the Government in effective implementation of the Acquis.
The organization and duties of the European Integration Office include:

1. The EIO manages and coordinates the stabilization and association process and Montenegro’s accession to the EU, primarily through coordinating and monitoring the work of joint bodies established by the Stabilization and Association Agreement. This entails the establishment of bodies that coordinate the negotiations process and the participation in their work, participation in meetings of Intergovernmental Conferences on Montenegro`s accession to the EU and the preparation of strategic documents related to the European integration process.

2. In the area of EU accession negotiations, the Office coordinates activities related to the cooperation of ministries, state organisations and institutions of Montenegro with the EU institutions and bodies, EU member states, candidate countries and potential candidates, as well as the activities of coordination, preparation and participation in the EU initiatives within the enlargement policy. In addition, it also coordinates the alignment of domestic regulations with the EU acquis, as well as the confirmation of the form, statement and the table of concordance of Montenegrin regulations with the EU acquis.

3. A significant scope of the Office’s activities comprises the coordination of programming, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on national and regional programmes and projects supported through the EU pre-accession funds. The Office coordinates the activities of preparation and participation of Montenegro in EU cross-border and transnational cooperation programmes, implementing, moreover, a number of EU technical assistance projects within these programmes.

4. The competences of the Office also include coordination of the translation, preparation and development of the Montenegrin version of the EU acquis, as well as expert and legal approximation of the translated EU regulations. It also deals with the management of databases that support the translation process, as well as with the cooperation with EU institutions and bodies, and Montenegrin ministries and institutions in the field of translation.

One of the preconditions for the EU membership is the harmonization of the overall national legislation with the EU acquis. Integral part of this process is coordination of translation of legal acts of the European Union into Montenegrin language (language of candidate country negotiating membership) and coordination of legal, expert and language revision of translated legal acts. In addition, it includes coordination of drafting of proposals for the establishment of a unique EU terminology and the development of glossaries of the EU terminology in the Montenegrin language and cooperation with institutions in Montenegro, competent EU bodies and countries in the region for the purpose of improving the translation and revision process, as well as other activities in this field.

After the state elections that took place on 30 August 2020, Montenegrin citizens have elected the new political majority, which will as a consequence have a new Government. In order to provide the new political elite and decision makers with the thorough analysis of the results achieved, besides the internal analysis, the EIO finds important to have a comprehensive external analysis regarding the all obligations coming from the European integration process of Montenegro.

An external analysis will provide additional information from the beginning of the EU integration process of Montenegro 2012, and explain achieved results so far. Analysis should cover the negotiation process of Montenegro with the EU, but also the use of pre-accession funds (IPA), and the quality of coordination of these processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment: The local consultant will work under one objective with the focus on:

Preparation of an external analysis of the state of play in the European integration process of Montenegro, with a close reference on the implemented results from the negotiation process and use of IPA funds.

Job content: Under direct supervision of the respective UNDP Programme Manager, and in close cooperation with the key counterparts in the Office for European Integration, including the Chief Negotiator, the local consultant will develop the following a comprehensive analysis which will contain:

Analysis regarding the legal alignment of the national legislation with the EU acquis;
Analysis regarding results achieved in the 33 negotiating chapters;
Analysis regarding the preparation of the MNE version of the EU acquis;
Analysis regarding the use of IPA funds;
Analysis of the institutional structure for coordination of the negotiation process and IPA programming.

The expected results: It is expected from the consultant to deliver the analysis regarding the state of play since the beginning of the negotiations.

Time duration and travel: The local consultant will be engaged during the period of 10 working days in December 2020. No travel is envisaged.

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Excellent communication skills, facility in working with teams and capacity to compose clear and readable narrative reports;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.
Excellent organizational and time management skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced degree in social sciences, preferably in law and economics.

Experience:

Minimum ten years of working experience in the relevant field;
Proven experience at the senior position related to the EU Accession process will be an advantage;
Detailed technical knowledge of EU Accession process.

Languages:

Fluency in Montenegrin and English language.

Other:

Computer literacy.

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the inidividual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weight - 70% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);

Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by December 10, 2020 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain a duly completed CV or Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded from https://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/sr/home/jobs.html

Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".