Montenegro’s path to EU membership

With eleven years of negotiations and 33 chapters opened, Montenegro’s road to EU accession remains long. The country is moderately prepared on regional policy, but several challenges remain. An overview

Independent since 2006, Montenegro is often considered a frontrunner in the race of candidate countries to join the European Union. The formal accession negotiations were opened on 29 June 2012, and are still ongoing.

A decade later, Montenegro finds itself on a relatively long negotiating path. In 2020, the chapter on competition policy was opened for negotiations, marking the opening of the 33 chapters, out of which only three are temporarily closed.

The country has voluntarily joined the new enlargement methodology adopted by the Council in spring 2020, which aspires to reinvigorate the accession process by placing more emphasis on the fundamentals, ensuring more dynamism and predictability to the whole process.

Since the last Intergovernmental Conference held in December 2021, Montenegro has entered a new phase, marked by obstacles and internal political instability. The European Commission has acknowledged the efforts made over the last period in advancing the reform agenda, calling on the government to push ahead the implementation of the intermediary benchmarks on the rule of law, which are considered crucial for making progress  in the negotiations. In last year’s report , the Commission states that the achievement of this milestone is a conditio sine qua non for closing the other negotiating chapters.

Chapter 22 and cohesion policy

Chapter 22 of the acquis concerns regional policy and coordination of structural instruments. The main objective is to strengthen the capacity of the accession country in the correct management of the cohesion policy funds, which will become accessible once the country officially joins the Union.

Regional policy plays a key role in terms of EU investments, contributing to the economic and social development, and in reducing territorial disparities among the member states. In terms of content, Chapter 22 consists mainly of the adoption and implementation of various European framework regulations, which enable adequate administrative capacity and sound financial management.

In order to move forward in this direction, soon after the start of the negotiations Montenegro established the working group dedicated to Chapter 22, which is headed by Ivana Glišević Đurović Montenegro's deputy Chief Negotiator as well as National Coordinator of pre-accession funds (IPA). It consists of 22 members, including 17 from state institutions and 5 from civil society.

The negotiations for Chapter 22 were launched during the Intergovernmental Conference of 20 June 2017, initiating a technical process consisting of several steps, namely the analytical examination of the content of the chapter (also known as screening), the identification of the various benchmarks to be fulfilled, and the development of the respective action plan for implementation.

In its report , the Commission assesses that Montenegro is moderately prepared in the area of regional policy and progress over the last period has been limited. In order to move forward, the Montenegrin government is required to take a number of measures, including updating the action plan on implementing the benchmarks identified in Chapter 22, consolidating the administrative capacities of state structures at the central and local levels, and strengthening the capacities for procurement, management, and monitoring of capital investments. Namely, the Montenegrin government should accelerate the formalisation of the national legal framework regarding the European Structural and Investment Funds Law, currently scheduled for the third quarter of 2024. This development is also key to the disbursement to Montenegro of IPA III funds, made available by the EU for the financial period 2021-2027.

This publication was produced in the frame of the project "Programming the EU cohesion policy: exchange programme on Chapter 22 in Serbia and Montenegro", funded by the CEI Fund  of the EBRD, with a contribution of Italy. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the CEI Fund