The Stabilisation and Association Council reported on Thursday 27 June on the progress of the pre-accession process between the EU and Montenegro, which is positive but must continue in the field of the Rule of law.
Montenegro's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Zoran Janković, reiterated that "the EU integration process is Montenegro's top foreign policy priority". He indicated that work to open Chapter 8 on competition had been initiated.
This is the last accession chapter that the country must open. Since the last Association Council on 25 June 2018, the country has opened Chapter 17 on economic and monetary policy (see EUROPE 12049/3) and Chapter 27 on the environment.
The European Commission's Director of the European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations DG (DG Near) for the Western Balkans, Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, insisted on strengthening the Rule of law in the country, and recalled the need to redouble efforts in the critical areas of press freedom, the fight against corruption and human trafficking.
Regarding the crisis of political parties in the country, the EU called for parliamentary reform before the next elections.
The EU is Montenegro's first technical and financial support. Pre-accession funds for Montenegro for the period 2014-2020 amount to around 300 million euros. (Original version in French by Martin Molko – intern)