On October 12, 2026, the Ministry of Culture and Media announced that the Parliament of Montenegro (Skupština) had adopted the Law on Implementation of the Digital Services Act (Zakon o sprovođenju Akta o digitalnim uslugama). The notice names the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (Agencija za audiovizuelne medijske usluge) as digital services coordinator. Hosting providers established in Montenegro, online platforms established in Montenegro or for which Montenegro is the competent state, online marketplaces established in Montenegro, and traders selling to consumers on those marketplaces must map notice-and-action, the ban on targeted advertising to minors and trader-information accuracy, and build those processes for the day Montenegro accedes to the EU. No compliance date is set yet: the notice gives neither an Official Gazette date nor an application date.
Once the sanction regime applies, a court may impose up to 6 percent of worldwide annual turnover for the substantive breaches in articles 15 to 17 and up to 1 percent of annual income or worldwide annual turnover for procedural breaches under article 18, with a further daily uplift of 5 percent of daily profit if a turnover fine goes unpaid. The duties of providers come from the EU Digital Services Act. Secondary-act and Agency-capacity articles apply from entry into force.
What did Parliament adopt on October 12, 2026?
Parliament adopted a national implementing statute, not a direct application of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065. Minister Tamara Vujović said the law decides who supervises, how user rights are protected, and how liability is established for expressly listed breaches. What is illegal offline is illegal online.
The ministry notice of October 12, 2026 sets out the operative articles as follows.
| Article | What the notice assigns |
|---|---|
| 10 | Agency independence. Other authorities assist and do not decide. |
| 6 and 7 | Orders against illegal content and orders to provide information. The power must sit in a separate statute. |
| 11 | Providers established in Montenegro, or for which Montenegro is competent. The Commission keeps very large platforms above 45 million users. |
| 5 | Out-of-court bodies and trusted flaggers. A secondary act may not change Digital Services Act conditions. |
| 13 | Complaints, filed electronically, in person, or via an authorised organisation, forwarded when another coordinator is competent. |
| 16 | Article 28 of the Digital Services Act: targeted ads to minors and unsuitable interfaces. |
| 17 | Trader-data accuracy on online sales, to the extent possible, not a check of every listing. |
| 15 to 19 | Misdemeanours and the court's sentencing criteria. |
| 22 and 9 | At least 0.05 percent of the current budget each year until accession, then permanent financing. |
The Agency may order content brought into line, accept a statement that content will be removed or aligned, and impose an interim measure against an immediate danger of serious harm. It files the misdemeanour request. The court decides liability and the amount.
Who is inside the Montenegrin competence line?
Article 11 limits supervision to providers established in Montenegro, or for which Montenegro is the competent state. Very large online platforms above 45 million users stay with the European Commission.
That line covers hosting providers established in Montenegro, online platforms established in Montenegro or for which Montenegro is the competent state, online marketplaces established in Montenegro, and traders selling to consumers on those marketplaces. A provider established only in an EU member state, with no Montenegrin establishment, is outside the statute. A complaint about that provider is forwarded under article 13.
What should those providers prepare before a date exists?
No application date is published. Preparation is the mapping the statute already describes, not a filing against a calendar day.
- Identify whether Montenegro is the competent state, or whether the provider is established there, under article 11.
- Design a notice-and-action path for orders against illegal content and orders to provide information, and record which separate statute supplies the power to issue each order (articles 6 and 7).
- Block targeted advertising to minors and review interfaces aimed at minors, the Article 28 duties that article 16 sanctions.
- Set a trader-information check for online sales that matches article 17: accuracy to the extent possible, without a duty to verify every listing.
- Open a channel for article 13 complaints (electronic, in person, or via an authorised organisation) and a rule for forwarding a complaint to another coordinator.
- Treat article 22, at least 0.05 percent of the current budget each fiscal year until accession, as an Agency capacity marker, not a fee on providers.
Per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces a later gazette publication or a secondary act under article 5 the moment it is published.
What can a court impose once the sanction regime applies?
The ceiling the minister stated is 6 percent of worldwide annual turnover for articles 15 to 17, and 1 percent of annual income or worldwide annual turnover for article 18. Those figures are ceilings. Article 19 supplies the criteria the court uses.
If a platform is ordered to pay, the minister's example was 3 percent of income, and does not pay, the Agency's order raises the penalty by 5 percent of daily profit each day until payment. The Agency files. The court decides.
Verify article 11 competence, keep the 45 million user exclusion, and brief legal and marketplace teams on articles 6, 7, 13, 16 and 17. Obsidian tracks the gazette step.
