Brussels – Meet Me Halfway. This could be the soundtrack of Podgorica’s summer as it continues to close EU accession chapters, with the aim of completing all the work by the end of 2026 and making Montenegro the 28th member state by 2028.
“Mega Monday would not be complete without the most advanced candidate country in the EU accession process, which has closed almost half of the accession chapters,” said Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos following the provisional closure of Chapter 2 (Free Movement of Workers) and Chapter 28 (Consumer and Health Protection) at the 27th Accession Conference with Montenegro on 15 June.
On the same day, in the same city – Luxembourg – as the two crucial Accession Conferences with Ukraine and Moldova, Commissioner Kos promised that “we are preparing Montenegro’s place within the European Union”. This is demonstrated not only by the Accession Treaty currently being drafted, but also by the announcement that the Commission will adopt the financial package for Montenegro “next week,” setting out how the EU budget would be adjusted for a Union of 28 member states. “We are getting ready,” she added.
In total, 16 negotiating chapters have been closed so far, representing almost half of the 33 chapters in the accession process. In 2026, four chapters have been provisionally closed, while the Irish Presidency of the Council, which begins on 1 July, will have “the chance to bring the accession negotiations to the finish line” over the next six months by advancing work on the remaining 17 chapters, all of which are currently under review. This is how Podgorica could realistically achieve its ambitious goal — and fulfil its catchphrase — of becoming the 28th member state by 2028.
The drafting of the common positions for Chapter 8 (Competition Policy) and Chapter 29 (Customs Union) is currently underway at the technical level, and both chapters are expected to be provisionally closed by the end of the summer. “We are committed to reaching the finish line with the same discipline that we have shown today and in the past,” Prime Minister Milojko Spajić made clear, pointing to the “speed of the closure” of the accession process over the last year and a half.
As Ambassador Petar Marković, Head of Mission of Montenegro to the EU, told The New Union Post on the margins of the 2026 EU–Western Balkans Summit hosted in Tivat, a successful Montenegrin EU accession “would send a powerful message” across the Western Balkans that “reforms matter, commitments matter, and that the European project remains open to those who are prepared to do the work.”
Meanwhile, many ideas and proposals aimed at bringing candidate countries closer to the EU, simplifying the accession process, and introducing stronger safeguards in the Accession Treaties have been circulating in recent weeks. However, according to Cyprus’s Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, these are “indicative” of a “great commitment and willingness” on the EU side to advance accession negotiations and to consider “how to do it.”
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 16 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, which started working on 13 May. Montenegro is considered the most advanced country in the EU enlargement process, with the aim of closing all chapters by the end of 2026.
