Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Montenegro’s progress in the implementation of reforms

In its Opinion on Montenegro's application for membership, the European Commission identified seven key priorities which had to be fulfilled for the Commission to recommend the opening of accession negotiations with Montenegro. In its 2011 Enlargement Strategy Paper, based on the analysis in the 2011 Progress Report, the Commission concluded that Montenegro has successfully addressed the key priorities set out in 2010 by the EU as a pre-requisite to opening accession negotiations.

The December 2011 European Council welcomed the Commission's assessment on the good progress made by Montenegro, which has achieved overall satisfactory results. With a view to opening accession negotiations with Montenegro in June 2012, the European Council tasked the Council to examine Montenegro's progress in the implementation of reforms, with particular focus on the area of rule of law and fundamental rights, especially the fight against corruption and organised crime, on the basis of a report to be presented by the Commission in the first half of 2012.

Following the European Council conclusions of December 2011, the Commission has initiated the screening process for the chapters on judiciary and fundamental rights as well as on justice, freedom and security. In light of the new approach for both chapters, this will allow the issues identified under both chapters to be addressed at an early stage of the accession negotiations.

This report assesses the additional progress made by Montenegro in the period from 1 September 2011 in the implementation of reforms linked to the key priorities.

The assessment in this report is based on information gathered and analysed by the Commission, including input provided by Montenegro, the findings of peer-assessment missions as well as information shared by Member States, international and civil society organisations in their regular contacts with the Commission.

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)222: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:222:FIN

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