Montenegro and European
Integration Process
Olivera Dimic and Dragan Djuric
Capacity Development Programme
Achievement of Candidate status
 15 December 2008 - Application for membership
 23 April 2009: Council of the EU requested the
Commission to submit its opinion (avis)
 June 2009: EC Questionnaire:
 around 4,000 questions + additional 600
 15 December 2009: Answers:
 4,327 pages + annexes on 8,500 pages
 19 December 2009: Visa liberalization for
Montenegrin citizens
 1 May 2010: SAA entered into force
 9 November 2010: EC Opinion
 15 December 2010: Council EU: Montenegro is
Candidate country
Comparison:Candidate status

Croatia - 18. 06. 2004

Negotiation process:2005-2011
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
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Macedonia - 9. 12. 2005
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Still without negotiations

Negotiation process:
Turkey – October 2005
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opened negotiations on 13 chapters
closed provisionally one chapter
Srbija – 1. 3. 2012 candidate

January 2014 opened negotiations

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July 2010: official opening of negotiations process
Since 1994 part of EEA - European Economic Area
Iceland – in 2009 applied for EU membership
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December 2011 - Signing the Accession treaty
July 1 2013 – EU member state
27 chapters opened
11 chapters provisionally closed
In May 2013 decided to stop negotaitions
Potencial candidate: Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo
2010 - EC Opinion
 Administrative and judicial capacities remain overall limited
 The negotiations for accession to the EU should be opened
with Montenegro once the country achieves the necessary
degree of compliance with the membership criteria and in
particular the Copenhagen political criteria requiring the
stability of institutions guaranteeing notably the rule of law.
 In this regard Montenegro needs in particular to meet 7 key
priorities
 Government of Montenegro (and Parliament) developed
Action plan for fulfilment of there priorities.
 During 2011 Montenegro implemented this Action plan
 December 2011 – Council of EU envisaged exact date for
opening negotiations - 29 June 2012
 Screening process - in the course of 2012, 2013 (june) until
May 2014 (reports)
Avis: Priorities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Legislative framework for elections, strengthen the Parliament’s
legislative and oversight role.
PAR, enhancing professionalism and de-politicization of public
administration and to strengthening a transparent, merit-based
approach to appointments and promotions.
Strengthen rule of law, de-politicized and merit-based appointments
of members of the judicial and prosecutorial councils and of state
prosecutors
Improve the anti-corruption legal framework and action plan;
establish a solid track record of proactive investigations, prosecutions
and convictions in corruption cases at all levels.
Strengthen the fight against organized crime. Develop a solid trackrecord in this area.
Enhance media freedom and strengthen cooperation with civil society.
Implement the legal and policy framework on anti-discrimination; a
sustainable strategy for the closure of the Konik camp.
Preparation for Accession
 Nominate Chief Negotiator and Negotiation team
 Define the General Negotiation position
 Define the specific negotiation positions for particular
chapters
 Define the new coordination mechanisms within the
Government
 Define the role of the Parliament in negotiation process
 Define the way how the NGOs, overall public, experts
and other stakeholders will be include in the negotiation
process
Chapters of the EU acquis
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Free movement of goods
Freedom of movement for workers
Right of establishment and freedom
to provide services
Free movement of capital
Public procurement
Company law
Intellectual property law
Competition policy
Financial services
Information society and media
Agriculture and rural development
Food safety, veterinary and
phytosanitary policy
Fisheries
Transport policy
Energy
Taxation
Economic and monetary policy
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
Statistics
Social policy and employment
Enterprise and industrial policy
Trans-European networks
Regional policy and coordination of
structural instruments
Judiciary and fundamental rights
Justice, freedom and security
Science and research
Education and culture
Environment
Consumer and health protection
Customs union
External relations
Foreign, security and defense policy
Financial control
Financial and budgetary provisions
Institutions
Other issues
No. of legal acts per Chapters
Obim propisa po poglavljima Acquisa (sektor 3)
5000
4500
4000
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
7
5
6
32
3
25
9
26
2
16
33
19
22
10
20
15
17
24
31
28
27
14
34
13
1
29
8
30
12
11
broj propisa
3500
poglavlja
 http://epdb.eu/eulegislation/
The content of negotiations
Accession means:
- Adoption of the acquis
- Alignment of national legislation
- Efficient implementation of the
acquis
Phases of negotiations
Opening of negotiations
Screening process
Substantive negotiations in each chapter
Temporary closure of chapters
Completion of negotiations
Drafting of the Accession Treaty
The signing of the Accession Treaty
The referendum and the ratification of the Accession
Treaty
 Entry into force of the Treaty
 Membership in the EU - on the agreed date
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Novelties in accession negotiations
 Benchmarking
 Possibilities for Suspension of negotiations
 Continuation of monitoring process after the
negotiation is finished
 No date for accession until the overall negotiation
process is finished
 Starting with chapters 23 and 24


Judiciary and fundamental rights
Justice, freedom and security
 Reasons:
 Lessons learned from previous enlargement processes
 Development of acquis, Lisbon treaty…
Preparation for Accession
negotiations
 In March 2012 the GoM established
negotiations structures:
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Chief Negotiator
Negotiation group
Secretariat of the Negotiation group
Working groups (per chapters) for negotiation
 New EU approach: Accession negotiations start
and finish with chapters:
 23. Judiciary and fundamental rights
 24. Justice, freedom and security
Montenegro and Chapter 23
 Negotiation group - 48 members
 4 of them from CSOs
 Established in March 2012
 Explanatory screening – 26-27 March 2012
 90 documents presented
 Bilateral screening – 30 -31 May 2012
 83 preliminary questions form EC
 Areas: Justice, anticorruption, fundamental
rights and freedoms, personal data, EU
citizens…
 April 2014 - opened negotiations
Montenegro and Chapter 24
 Negotiation group - 38 members
 2 of them from CSOs
 Established in March 2012
 Explanatory screening - 28-30 March 2012
 Bilateral screening - 23 – 25 May 2012
 118 question from the EC and answers on 120 pages
 44 presentations
 Areas: Migrations, asylum, visas, Schengen acquis,
legal cooperation, foreign borders, organized crime…
 April 2014 - opened negotiations
Ongoing negotiation
1.
2.
3.
Chapter 5: Public procurement
Chapter 6: Company law
Chapter 20: Enterprise and industrial policy
4.
5.
Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights
Chapter 24: Justice, freedom and security
6.
7.
Chapter 25: Science and research (temporary closed)
Chapter 26: Education and culture (temporary closed)
8.
9.
Chapter 7: Intellectual property law
Chapter 10: Information society and media
10. Soon: Chapter 4: Free movement of capital
11. Soon: Chapter 31: Foreign, security and defence policy
12. Soon: Chapter 32: Financial control
Challenges
 Opening benchmarks:
 Chapters 1, 3, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19, 22, 27…
 Small country – small administration –
week administrative capacities
 Coordination of various policies
 Too ambitious line ministers - too strong
commitments and budgetary obligations
 Connection between negotiation process
and IPA II support
EU Financial Assistance
 2000-2006: PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD, CARDS
 2007-2013: IPA

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The purpose of support under the Instrument for Pre-Accession
Assistance (IPA) programme is to help candidate and potential
candidate countries to progress towards fully meeting the
Copenhagen political and economic criteria as well as adopting and
implementing the EU acquis
Since 2007, Montenegro has received EU financial aid under the
IPA for an annual average financial envelope of around 35 M€
 2014-2020: IPA II
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Sector-wide approach
Donor coordination
IPA II Sectors within Policy areas
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Transition Process and Capacity Building (TPCB)
1.
2.
Democracy and Governance
Judiciary and Fundamental Rights
3.
5.
6.
Transport
Environment
Competitiveness and Innovation
7.
Education, Employment and Social Policies
8.
Fishery, Phiyo, Veto and Rural Development
Regional Development
Employment, Social Policies and Human Resource
Development
Agriculture and Rural Development
Regional and Territorial Cooperation
Thank you.