Brussels – From seasoned frontrunners to emerging contenders, from nerve-racking stalemates to unexpected twists and decades-long waits – where do the EU accession negotiations stand for each candidate country?
To answer this, we can look at the current progress of negotiating chapters – those under revision, those already closed, and those yet to be opened.
Montenegro and Albania are considered the two frontrunners in EU enlargement. Podgorica has opened all 33 chapters, with seven already provisionally closed. Since September 2024, Tirana has opened four clusters, comprising a total of 24 chapters currently under revision, while only nine remain unopened.
Serbia has been negotiating since 2014. Currently, 21 chapters – plus an additional one on the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo – are open, but only two are provisionally closed. The process has been stalling for almost a year following an autocratic backlash.
While the first intergovernmental conferences with North Macedonia, Moldova and Ukraine have already been held, none of their respective negotiating chapters has been opened.
For two other candidates – Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia – and one potential candidate, Kosovo, there is not yet a negotiating framework.
On paper, Iceland would be quite advanced on its EU accession path – with 11 chapters provisionally closed and another 17 opened – but it decided to freeze negotiations in 2013.
Türkiye‘s accession negotiations have been on hold since 2018, following the failed coup in 2016, with only 15 negotiating chapters under revision and one closed.
Here you can find all the updates on the state of the EU accession negotiations from September 2025 onwards:
14 July 2026: Albania has provisionally closed Chapter 25 (Science and Research), Chapter 26 (Education and Culture) and Chapter 30 (External Relations). At present, 3 chapters are provisionally closed.
14 July 2026: Moldova has opened Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’. At present, 7 chapters have been opened.
14 July 2026: Montenegro has provisionally closed Chapter 8 (Competition Policy) and Chapter 29 (Customs Union). At present, 18 chapters are provisionally closed.
14 July 2026: Ukraine has opened Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’. At present, 7 chapters have been opened.
15 June 2026: Ukraine has opened Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’. At present, 5 chapters have been opened.
15 June 2026: Moldova has opened Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’. At present, 5 chapters have been opened.
15 June 2026: Montenegro has provisionally closed Chapter 2 (Free Movement of Workers) and Chapter 28 (Consumer and Health Protection). At present, 16 chapters are provisionally closed.
17 March 2026: Montenegro has provisionally closed Chapter 21 (Trans-European Networks). At present, 14 chapters are provisionally closed.
26 January 2026: Montenegro has provisionally closed Chapter 32 (Financial Control). At present, 13 chapters are provisionally closed.
16 December 2025: Montenegro has provisionally closed Chapters 3 (Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services), 4 (Free Movement of Capital), 6 (Company Law), 11 (Agriculture and Rural Development) and 13 (Fisheries). At present, 12 chapters are provisionally closed.
17 November 2025: Albania has opened Cluster 5 – ‘Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion’. At present, all 33 chapters have been opened.
16 September 2025: Albania has opened Cluster 4 – ‘Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity’.
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