Montenegro Closes Two More Chapters and Moves Within Reach of Finishing Accession This Year

Montenegro provisionally closed two more chapters in its EU accession negotiations on 6 November, bringing the total to 23 of 33 and putting the country within reach of completing negotiations by the end of the year.

The closures came at the 30th meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro, held in Brussels, and covered chapter 1 on the free movement of goods and chapter 12 on food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy. It was the third Intergovernmental Conference on Montenegro held under the Irish presidency of the Council.

The presidency's framing

"I strongly welcome the progress made today," said Thomas Byrne, Ireland's minister of state for European affairs and defence, speaking for the presidency. "With 23 negotiating chapters now provisionally closed, Montenegro is making significant progress towards the closure of all remaining chapters."

Byrne went further than the usual diplomatic formula. "Enlargement is a geopolitical necessity for the EU, and the Irish presidency is prioritising this agenda. This week the Commission's enlargement report considered that accession negotiations with Montenegro could realistically be closed by the end of the year, once the necessary reforms have been implemented by Montenegro."

That qualifier carries the weight. The Commission's assessment is conditional on Podgorica delivering outstanding reforms, and the chapters closed this week are not the difficult ones.

The trajectory

Montenegro has opened all 33 negotiating chapters. The previous accession conference on 12 October provisionally closed chapters 17 on economic and monetary policy, 18 on statistics, and 19 on social policy and employment. The pace has accelerated markedly through the autumn, after years in which Montenegro led the enlargement pack on paper while closing very little.

Under the negotiating principles endorsed by the Accession Conference, agreements reached on individual chapters are not final until an overall agreement covers all chapters, and the EU may return to any chapter if needed. Provisional closure is therefore a statement about alignment, not a guarantee.

What remains, and why it is harder

The ten chapters still open include the ones that historically end accession processes rather than complete them: competition policy with its state aid commitments, the rule of law chapters that remain under monitoring, and the budgetary and financial provisions that determine what Montenegro receives and contributes from the day it joins.

The rule of law chapters 23 and 24 carry interim benchmarks that the Commission tracks continuously, and they are the reason the 2026 enlargement report can describe a realistic end-of-year finish while still conditioning it on reform. A country can close chapter 12 on veterinary standards and still be held on judicial independence.

Why this one is different from the usual enlargement news

The EU has not concluded an accession negotiation since Croatia in 2011. Since then the policy has produced opened chapters, summits, declarations and a great deal of postponement. A Montenegro conclusion would be the first completed accession under the revised enlargement methodology adopted in 2020, and the first evidence that the conditioning built into it can produce an ending rather than a permanent queue.

That matters beyond the Adriatic. The Commission's enlargement package adopted on 4 November set out roadmaps for Ukraine, Moldova and Albania, and found Ukraine falling behind Moldova on the timetable for 2027. Brussels needs a demonstration that the process terminates, and Montenegro is currently the only candidate able to supply one. EU leaders meet the Western Balkans in Brussels on 25 November.