Montenegro officially receives recommendation for the EU candidate status

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Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule has presented Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic with the Commission's Opinion on Montenegro’s EU membership application, in which the Commission recommended to the member states to grant candidate status to Montenegro.

In addition to the positive opinion, the Commission advised Montenegro to improve on seven points, most notably in the rule of law area.

Prime Minister Djukanovic commended the balanced opinion that takes an objective account of Montenegro’s progress and realistically takes a view as to the key priorities Montenegro needs to tackle over the next year. He added that Montenegro understands the complexity of the tasks to be addressed, underlining that even though they are very demanding Montenegro is very determined to meet them, as it has been in the past.

He expressed optimism about meeting the priorities, especially because Montenegro does not see them as only EU homework, but as something that Montenegro needs to do to improve lives of its citizens.

Commissioner Fule noted that Montenegro “in real terms contributes to the Commission's principle of credibility, through hard and systematic work.” He commended the Prime Minister’s and his associates’ contribution in dealing with numerous tasks set by the EU, and expressed hope this would continue all the way to the full-fledged membership.

 He added that the recommendation is at the same time the recognition of Montenegro’s efforts, but also an encouragement to continue to do well, which will in turn lead to the opening of negotiations after establishing a “track record” and doing “some homework” outlined in seven key priorities in the Opinion.

PM Djukanovic thanked EU officials for their assistance to Montenegro on its integration path, adding that the recommendation is a big step forward for Montenegro and the region. He voiced hope that the recommendation will be endorsed by the European Council, as well as confidence that roughly this time next year the policy of enlargement will be successfully continued on the example of Montenegro.

The seven key priorities laid down in the Opinion inluclude: improvement of the legislative framework for elections, public administration reform, strenghtening rule of law, fight againt corruption, fight against organised crime, enhancing media freedom and implementation of anti-discrimination policy.

For the full European Commission's Opinion please click on the download link above.