2016 Annual Review of Labour Relations and Social Dialogue Montenegro VESNA SIMOVIĆ -ZVICER February 2017  Montenegro continued during 2016 to meet the obligations required by the Action Plan for EU accession. In the previous course of negotiations, 26 of 33 negotiating chapters were opened, including Chapter 19 about Social Policy and Employment.  The economic context in 2016 was characterized by steady economic growth, a large in­flow as well as a large outflow of foreign investments, a low rate of import coverage by ex­ports and growth in government debt to around 60 per cent of GDP, as well as a slight de­crease in the unemployment rate compared to 2015.  In October, parliamentary elections were held and at the end of November a post-election coalition agreement was signed between the Democratic Party of Socialists(who won the highest number of seats), the Social Democratic Party, the Bosniak Party and the Albanian coalition''Forca''. The new government was inaugurated on 28 November 2016.  The parliamentary elections were preceded by the election of new members of the gov­ernment by the opposition, according to lex specialis, with a goal of preparing the elections and due to the dismissal of the President of Parliament, Ranko Krivokapić, in May 2016.  The work of the national tripartite Social Council was hampered by the absence of govern­ment representatives, which led to lack of quorum. During 2016 only one session of the Social Council was held.  The year was also marked by several trade union congresses: the Congress of the Federa­tion of Trade Unions of Montenegro, the Congress of the Union of Education of Montene­gro and the Congress of the Union of Administration and Justice of Montenegro.