Strasbourg – Is there anything that could slow Montenegro’s push towards EU membership within the next couple of years? It would seem not, at least judging by public statements and the tangible progress in Podgorica and Brussels in recent weeks. Yet a dark shadow looms over the goal of closing all negotiating chapters by the end of the year: compliance with the EU’s stringent environmental standards.
It is also for this reason that the chair of the Committee on Tourism, Agriculture, Ecology and Spatial Planning of the Parliament of Montenegro, Dejan Đurović, addressed the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI) on 27 April, on the margins of the plenary session in Strasbourg.
Yet, it was Ambassador Petar Marković, Head of Mission of Montenegro to the EU, who confirmed in a interview with The New Union Post that Chapter 27 is “technically difficult and the most expensive in terms of implementation,” as it covers one of the largest portions of the EU acquis. Despite being the first country in the world to declare itself ecological in its Constitution, Montenegro still has “a long way to go” to reach high EU standards in practice and faces “a chronic problem” with administrative capacity. For this reason, “we are asking the Commission for transition periods, in order not to be stuck in the waiting room,” the Montenegrin ambassador said.
Without these concessions on completing alignment with the EU acquis after accession to the Union, Chapter 27 risks seriously jeopardising Podgorica’s hopes of closing all chapters by the end of 2026. This is due to its high capital intensity, the need for deep institutional reform, and the requirement to align diverse industrial and municipal practices with more than 200 EU legal acts. The estimated financial burden of full alignment, rising to around €2.5 billion, places a structural fiscal strain on a national economy that must simultaneously manage ambitious social programmes and infrastructure-related debt.
“In terms of pure legislation, Montenegro can manage. They are constantly delivering one piece after another when it comes to environmental legislation,” says MEP Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA), chair of the delegation to the EU–Montenegro Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, speaking with The New Union Post in his office in Strasbourg. At the same time, he warns that “implementation is a much trickier issue” and for this reason he advocates “allowing some transition periods and a little flexibility from our side.”
While the Commission will “never” publicly say that transition periods will be granted, in order to keep up the pressure “for as long as possible,” MEP Waitz makes clear the two red lines for this kind of concession: “We need to clearly see that implementation is happening and that the legislation is in place.”
“If you know the country, you can see that there have been massive improvements,” the Austrian MEP continues, citing as an example the closure of more than 100 illegal landfills in the last year. “It is a great effort for such a small country. But they have another 500, and if we expected them to have them all cleaned up, it would be impossible.” For those who say that they are not fast or ambitious enough, “we have to remember that, even inside the EU, not everything is perfect across all member states.”
According to MEP Waitz, where the EU institutions “cannot and will not” compromise is the designation of Natura 2000 sites: “We want to see the legal protection status.” While the Montenegrin authorities are developing special plans for tourism, often driven by the so-called corrosive capital, “to define Natura 2000 areas, you do not need money, but only political will,” the Austrian MEP stresses, warning the government in Podgorica that it has “no excuse” in terms of budget or capacity to define and implement the protection status.
All the environmental issues in Chapter 27
Nature protection is described by EU officials as the “real test” of Montenegro’s readiness for membership. While 22% of the country’s land territory is under some form of national protection, many of these areas are “paper parks” that lack management bodies, effective monitoring, or scientific baselines. The closing benchmark for Chapter 27 requires Montenegro to submit a scientifically robust list of Natura 2000 sites, including the Ulcinj Salina and parts of the Tara River canyon – both clear examples of the tension between infrastructure development and biodiversity conservation.
Montenegro’s climate policy is shaped by its commitment to the Paris Agreement and by an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target of 55% by 2030 and 60% by 2035, compared with 1990 levels. The cornerstone of the mitigation strategy is the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), which places a cap on emissions from heavy industry and power generation. The most significant risk is a delay in adopting the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), the primary document guiding the transition to renewable energy and improved energy efficiency. Moreover, the lack of an independent monetary policy – due to the unilateral adoption of the euro – limits the government’s ability to use domestic financial instruments to support the green transition.
Air quality is a major public health and environmental risk in Montenegro, particularly in the northern industrial zone of Pljevlja. Air pollution frequently reaches levels among the highest in Europe, driven by the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant and the adjacent coal mine. The Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and provides up to 40–60% of the country’s electricity when the hydropower network fails to meet demand during dry periods. However, the plant’s operation does not comply with the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) limits.
Waste management is the most visible indicator of Montenegro’s environmental infrastructure deficit, with an increasing volume of waste – 375,460 tonnes of municipal waste in 2024, or roughly 602 kg per capita – combined with a recycling rate of under 2%, far below the EU’s 50% target. The primary risks in this area are the reliance on only two sanitary landfills (in Podgorica and Bar), the proliferation of illegal dumpsites, and the “time bomb” of the former Aluminium Plant Podgorica (KAP) site, where seven million tonnes of toxic red mud bauxite residue have posed a health risk to the Zeta Valley for decades.
On water management, Montenegro has secured an eight-year transition period (until December 2035) to comply with the EU’s Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The scale of the required civil engineering works is particularly evident in the municipality of Ulcinj, which remains a significant concern, with untreated effluent still discharged directly into the Adriatic Sea, endangering the protected Ulcinj Salina wetlands. The “Downstream Protection” strategy focuses on the northern region – where the Tara and Ibar rivers are vulnerable to municipal pollution – but the risk of delays in these projects is high due to their technical complexity and the limited project management capacity of local authorities.
In analysing industrial pollution, the focus is on the implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), which requires integrated permits for all major industrial facilities. Montenegro’s performance in this area has been undermined by political interventions that have allowed heavy polluters to continue operating without valid permits. The EU considers these exemptions to constitute “unfair state aid” and a breach of the Energy Community Treaty.
At the same time, deficiencies in administrative capacity are particularly evident in the chemicals management sector, where only a handful of government officials possess the expertise required to manage the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) system. While Montenegro has transposed much of the basic framework, without an increase in trained toxicologists and specialised inspectors, it risks being used as a transhipment point for restricted chemicals banned in the EU Single Market.
Noise pollution management is one of the most neglected areas of Montenegro’s environmental policy. EU Directive 2002/49/EC requires Member States to produce strategic noise maps and action plans for major roads, railways and airports – yet the “frontrunner” candidate had made no progress in this area as of 2025. This policy gap is particularly significant given the planned expansion of the two international airports in Podgorica and Tivat.
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 14 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.
On 22 April 2026, the EU ambassadors endorsed the establishment of the Ad Hoc Working Party on Drafting the Accession Treaty. Montenegro is considered the most advanced country in the EU enlargement process, with the aim of closing all chapters by the end of 2026.
