Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn said on Wednesday 9 November that Montenegro has made good progress this year towards joining the EU.
The speed of accession talks will continue to be determined by tangible outcomes (in the rule of law domain), particularly the fight against corruption and organised crime, said the commissioner as he unveiled the enlargement package for 2016. Montenegro has opened 24 of the 35 accession chapters and two of them have been provisionally closed.
According to the progress report, the country has made some progress in reforming its civil service, notably the 2016-2020 reform strategy but strong political resolve will be necessary to deal effectively with depoliticisation of the civil service and adjusting the law of state administration, warns the Commission. Likewise, despite progress in the judicial system, the Commission regrets that the new legislative framework aiming to boost the independence, responsibility and professionalism of the legal authority, along with its code of ethics, have not yet been fully implemented.
Despite persistent polarisation of the political environment, the report reveals that the political agreement reached on organising elections with a government that has voters’ confidence has been able to win compromises between the government and some opposition parties. Hahn notes that the October 2016 general elections saw higher turnout and were more transparent than in the past and called for the introduction of as broad a government as possible. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)