Accession of Montenegro to the European Union

Accession of Montenegro to the European Union is on the agenda for future enlargement of the EU.

Shortly after voting for independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in a referendum in 2006, Montenegro began the process of accession to the European Union by agreeing to a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, which officially came into force on 1 May 2010.

Montenegro officially applied to join the EU on 15 December 2008, and membership negotiations began on 29 June 2012. With all the negotiating chapters opened, the country enjoys widespread support among EU members' officials, and the accession of the country to the EU was considered possible by 2025 as of March 2021. However, as of February 2024, thirty out of 33 chapters remain to be closed.

It is one of nine current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Chief negotiator Predrag Zenović named accession by 2028 as realistic.

Identification
Montenegro was granted potential candidate status in December 2002, when it was still in a union with Serbia. The EU recognized the new and independent country's European Perspective on 21 June 2003 at the Thessaloniki Summit. The adoption of the Thessaloniki Declaration of 2003 was a promise by the EU that the former Yugoslav republics along with Albania have "unequivocal support for future integration and full membership of these states in the Union".

Recommendation
The European Commission recommended Montenegro as a candidate country on 9 November 2010. Montenegro officially was granted candidate status on 17 December 2010.

Membership application
Montenegro officially applied to join the EU on 15 December 2008.

Questionnaire
On 23 April 2009, the Council invited the European Commission to submit its opinion on the application. The Commission presented Montenegro with a questionnaire to assess its application on 22 July 2009. On 9 December 2009, Montenegro delivered its answers to the EC questionnaire. In 2010, the Commission issued a favourable opinion on Montenegro's application, identifying seven key priorities that would need to be addressed for negotiations to begin.

Stabilisation and Association Agreement
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro started the process of Accession to the European Union in November 2005, when negotiations over a Stabilisation and Association Agreement began. The EU concluded such agreements with states that wish to become members. In exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights reform in the country, tariff-free access to some or all EU markets (industrial goods, agricultural products, etc.), and financial or technical assistance may be offered by the EU.

In May 2006, Montenegro voted for independence in a referendum, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro was dissolved. Serbia continued with the existing SAA negotiations, and separate negotiations were launched with Montenegro in September 2006.

The Agreement was initiated on 15 March 2007 and signed on 15 October 2007. After all the 27 member-states of EU had ratified the SAA, it came into force on 1 May 2010.

EU programs and organisations

 * Eastern Partnership: 22 January 2007
 * Energy Community: joined 15 December 2006
 * European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity:
 * Southeast Europe Transport Community: since establishment in 2017

Public opinion
Montenegro's population is overwhelmingly pro-EU, with 76.2% being in favor according to polling and only 9.8% against, in October 2009.

As of May 2023, the support of the citizens of Montenegro for the country's membership in the European Union reached a record high of 79.3%, according to a survey commissioned by the EU Delegation to Montenegro. The survey reported 75.9% of citizens believe that Montenegro will become a member of the EU. Over 90% of citizens would vote in the referendum, and 81.1% of those voting would support Montenegro's membership in the EU.

Negotiations and conditions
Montenegro signed an agreement with the Bulgarian government in December 2007 in which Bulgaria would assist Montenegro with its Euro-Atlantic and EU integration for the following three years. Reports at that time indicated Montenegro had ecological, judicial, and crime-related problems that may hinder its accession bid.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro has a special agency dedicated to accession to the EU, the Office for Assistance to the Chief Negotiator. The office's goal is to support the task of the Chief Negotiator for Montenegro's Accession to the EU, Zorka Kordić. On 27 July 2010, the Parliament passed a non-discrimination law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity as prohibited grounds of discrimination. This was one of the requirements the country had to meet for EU membership.

In December 2011, the Council agreed to launch the accession process, with negotiations beginning on 29 June 2012.

The 2015 European Commission Progress Report on Montenegro noted that the country had made good progress toward meeting the benchmarks to join the EU, but the nation needed to address institutional frameworks, including competition policy, fighting against corruption and organized crime, and work in the areas of the environment and climate change. A 2015 study of the readiness to join the EU by using data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey collected from enterprise owners and management indicated that Montenegro passed three out of six business dimensions: basic infrastructure, goods delivery, and secure legal secure environment, but was lower than four other candidate nations in resources, technology support, and regulations.

In its 2016 assessment of the accession progress, the European Parliament identified Montenegro as having the highest level of preparation for membership among the negotiating candidate nations.

From 2014 through 2020, Montenegro received €279.1 million of developmental aid (not including the allocation for Cross-border Cooperation) from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries. The priority areas for these funds include: democracy and governance, rule of law and fundamental rights, environment and climate action, transport, competitiveness and innovation, education, employment and social policies, agriculture and rural development, regional and territorial cooperation.

With all the negotiating chapters opened as of 2021, Montenegro had widespread support among EU members' officials with possible accession to the EU considered by 2025.

There are thirty open chapters, three have been provisionally closed, and two are in which there is nothing to adopt.

Developmental Aid
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance

IPA I €236 M (2007-2013)

IPA II €271 M (2014-2020)

IPA III c. €300 M (2021-2027)

Unilateral euro adoption
Montenegro has no currency of its own. As a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia following World War II, and later of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Montenegro used the Yugoslav dinar as its official currency. In November 1999, the government of Montenegro unilaterally designated the Deutsche Mark as its co-official currency with the dinar, and on 1 January 2001 the dinar officially ceased to be a legal tender in Montenegro. When the euro was introduced and the Deutsche Mark yielded in 2002, Montenegro followed suit and began using the euro as well, with no objection from the European Central Bank (ECB).

The European Commission and the ECB have since voiced their discontent over Montenegro's unilateral use of the euro on several occasions. A statement attached to their Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU read: "unilateral introduction of the euro was not compatible with the Treaty." The EU insists on the strict adherence to convergence criteria (such as spending at least 2 years in the ERMII system) which are not negotiable before euro adoption, but have not intervened to stop the unilateral adoption of the euro by Montenegro in 2002. The issue is expected to be resolved through the negotiations process. The ECB has stated that the implications of unilateral euro adoption "would be spelled out at the latest in the event of possible negotiations on EU accession."

Diplomats have suggested that it is unlikely Montenegro will be forced to withdraw the euro from circulation in their country. Radoje Žugić, Montenegro's Minister of Finance, has stated that "it would be extremely economically irrational to return to our currency and then later to again go back to the euro." Instead, he hopes that Montenegro will be permitted to keep the euro and has promised "the government of Montenegro, will adopt some certain elements, which should fulfil the conditions for further use of the euro; such as adopting fiscal rules."

Schengen Visa liberalisation process
On 1 January 2008, the visa facilitation and readmission agreements between Montenegro and the EU entered into force. Montenegro was added to the list of visa exempt nationals on 19 December 2009, allowing their citizens to enter the Schengen Area and Cyprus without a visa when traveling with biometric passports. The visa liberalisation process does not include travels to Ireland which, with the United Kingdom which left the EU during Montenegro's accession process, operate the Common Travel Area for visas outside of the Schengen Area.

From May 2025 citizens of Montenegro will be required to register on the EU's ETIAS before entering the Schengen area.