Brussels – “We are not a charity and this is not a Christmas gift. But we have a lot to celebrate today – Montenegro has never been closer to the EU.” With these words, Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos announced a new “big step forward” in Podgorica’s accession process, following the provisional closure of five negotiating chapters just before the end of 2025.
At the 24th Accession Conference with Montenegro on 16 December, 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) were provisionally closed. In total, six chapters were closed in 2025, including Chapter 5 (Public Procurement) at the 23rd Accession Conference on 27 June.
“Montenegro is our frontrunner and the best-performing candidate. This shows that hard work pays off,” Commissioner Kos said, referring to the 12 negotiating chapters closed so far. This represents slightly more than one third of the 33 chapters in the accession process. Or, as Prime Minister Milojko Spajić noted, Montenegro is the first country to reach this milestone since 2012, when Iceland provisionally closed 11 chapters and was seriously considered a potential future member of the EU.
Despite this progress, Podgorica’s goal to close all negotiating chapters by the end of 2026 remains highly ambitious. “We have to be honest – the hardest part is still ahead,” Commissioner Kos warned, pointing to the need to accelerate reforms in key areas such as the rule of law, the judiciary, fundamental rights, freedom and security, covered by Chapters 23 and 24. These chapters remain the most sensitive aspect of Montenegro’s accession process, and, for this reason, the candidate country must “run fast to reach the finish line.”
The road to 2026
The provisional closure of Chapters 11 and 13 – covering agriculture and fisheries – has raised expectations ahead of next year, when work on the remaining 21 chapters will need to be completed in order to meet the country’s self-imposed deadline. Until a late-night meeting of the 27 EU ambassadors on 15 December, France had been blocking the closure of two of the most politically sensitive policy areas for Paris in accession negotiations with candidate countries. “They gave us a tough task these days, but they have also shown how European partners work together, and that we can overcome any problem,” Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said – speaking in French – at the press conference.
A new phase of negotiations is now beginning both in Podgorica and in Brussels. “2025 was an excellent year,” Commissioner Kos underlined. “I am confident that 2026 can be even better.” Montenegro’s priorities, she said, should include strengthening the independence of the judiciary, stepping up the fight against corruption and organised crime, building “professional institutions that serve all citizens on the basis of rules and merit rather than personal connections or party loyalty,” safeguarding media freedom, and ensuring full alignment with the EU’s visa policy. “This work is not easy, but it is the only way to build trust with our member states and to be ready to join the EU,” Commissioner Kos added.
As Prime Minister Spajić pointed out, the national Parliament “is doing extraordinary work” to prepare an equally extraordinary 2026, with “more than 100 laws” still to be adopted. “There is a tsunami of change as we speak,” he added, stressing the need “to make sure that everything is completed by the end of next year.” In his view, optimism stems not only from the past few months of negotiations – which, “demonstrate our capacity to deliver and the EU’s ability to process the work” – but also from the trajectory of a country that “in a relatively short period of time has gone from being the poorest republic of the former Yugoslavia to neck to neck with some member states”.
Asked how many of the 21 chapters currently under revision could realistically be closed by the end of 2026, “this depends entirely on Montenegro,” Commissioner Kos replied. For this reason, “the faster you move, the more you will have to celebrate at the end of the year,” she said. “And I hope that everything can be concluded before the Christmas holidays.”
The state of EU-Montenegro relations
Montenegro submitted its application for EU membership in 2008. Candidate status was granted in June 2010, and accession negotiations began in 2012. To date, all 33 screened negotiating chapters have been opened, and 12 have been provisionally closed.
Moreover, in June 2024, Podgorica received a positive Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR), indicating that it has met the interim benchmarks in Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) – a prerequisite for closing chapters deemed ready for provisional closure. For these reasons, Montenegro is considered the most advanced country in the EU enlargement process, with the aim of closing all chapters by the end of 2026.
