Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Montenegro nears EU accession milestone as ministers finalize negotiations on key chapters at Brussels conference.
As reported by the European Council, the seventeenth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at the ministerial level will be carried out on 16 Dec 2024 in Brussels. The session will work to provisionally conclude talks with Montenegro on the negotiating chapters including Intellectual property law, Information society and media and Enterprise and industrial policy.
How has Montenegro progressed in eu accession since 2012?
Montenegro submitted applications for European Union accession in December 2008 and was given European Union candidate status in December 2010. European Union-Montenegro accession negotiations began in June 2012.
Montenegrin Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević has said: “At the end of 2024, we are rounding off the most thriving and intensive period of European integration. In just over 12 months – we have recovered the trust of the European Union, met the interim measures for Chapter 23&24, acquired the first IBAR in EU history, became the first nominee with SEPA membership, acquired approval of the Reform Agenda for over 380 million euros, arranged two intergovernmental meetings, and at the third one we will close three chapters.”
According to the European Council, accession negotiations are arranged in the framework of intergovernmental meetings (often named “accession conferences”) which carry together ambassadors and ministers from the European Union Member States and the candidate nation. The talks cover the full range of standard rights and legislation (the EU acquis) and are separated into different chapters, or sets of chapters, protecting the different policy areas.
The foremost gathering of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at the ministerial level carried out on 29 June 2012, observed the opening of accession talks. Since then, 16 sessions of the Accession Conference have concluded.
