se times
11/11/2010
Montenegrins are celebrating the European Commission's recommendation that it be given candidate status. Now comes the hard part.
By Nedjeljko Rudovic for Southeast European Times in Podgorica –11/11/10
Montenegrins are celebrating the European Commission's recommendation that it be given candidate status. Now comes the hard part.
By Nedjeljko Rudovic for Southeast European Times in Podgorica –11/11/10
Montenegro is set to receive EU candidate status following a recommendation Monday (November 8th) by the European Commission. Just four years after declaring independence, this small country of only 650,000 people, will take a key step towards accession.
As crucial as candidate status is, however, the path to eventual membership is a long one. To begin with, the EU's main decision-making body, the EU Council, must adopt the Commission's recommendations. That is expected to happen next month.
For accession talks to get under way, Montenegro must meet seven conditions. These include demonstrating tangible results in fighting corruption and organised crime, boosting the rule of law and ending the ruling party's influence on the judicial system and administrative apparatus.
It can take years for a country to progress from candidate status to actual negotiations. Macedonia, for instance, has been a candidate for five years but has not begun talks, largely because of its unresolved name dispute with EU member Greece.
While Montenegro's timeframe could be shorter, it will probably take at least a year for the country to obtain a starting date for the talks.
In the meantime, the government of Prime Miinster Milo Djukanovic -- who is expected to step down soon as prime minister, with Finance Minister Igor Luksic as the likely replacement -- will have to prove that genuine reform is under way.
Leopold Maurer, the head of the EU delegation in Podgorica, said that Montenegro would have to "show very good evidence of corruption cases which are brought [to trial]".
The message from EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele was that Montenegro must achieve anti-corruption results that "can be seen".
The EC urges Montenegro to boost media freedom, to apply jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in relation to defamation, and to strengthen co-operation with civil society.
In addition, Brussels expects the election law to comply with recommendations made by the OSCE and the Venice Commission, and expects the strengthening of parliament's legislative and oversight functions.
Montenegro also must strengthen the management of personnel and the State Audit Institution.
"The rule of law should be strengthened particularly through the depoliticisation and re-strengthening the independence, autonomy, efficiency and accountability of judges and prosecutors," the EC underscored in its document.
It also said Montenegro should apply the legal and political framework for anti-discrimination in accordance with European and international standards, guaranteeing the legal status of displaced persons, particularly Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians.
Minister for European Integration Gordana Djurovic said she is satisfied. "These are very serious messages that we need to carefully work out," she said, adding that "all criteria are difficult."
As crucial as candidate status is, however, the path to eventual membership is a long one. To begin with, the EU's main decision-making body, the EU Council, must adopt the Commission's recommendations. That is expected to happen next month.
For accession talks to get under way, Montenegro must meet seven conditions. These include demonstrating tangible results in fighting corruption and organised crime, boosting the rule of law and ending the ruling party's influence on the judicial system and administrative apparatus.
It can take years for a country to progress from candidate status to actual negotiations. Macedonia, for instance, has been a candidate for five years but has not begun talks, largely because of its unresolved name dispute with EU member Greece.
While Montenegro's timeframe could be shorter, it will probably take at least a year for the country to obtain a starting date for the talks.
In the meantime, the government of Prime Miinster Milo Djukanovic -- who is expected to step down soon as prime minister, with Finance Minister Igor Luksic as the likely replacement -- will have to prove that genuine reform is under way.
Leopold Maurer, the head of the EU delegation in Podgorica, said that Montenegro would have to "show very good evidence of corruption cases which are brought [to trial]".
The message from EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele was that Montenegro must achieve anti-corruption results that "can be seen".
The EC urges Montenegro to boost media freedom, to apply jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in relation to defamation, and to strengthen co-operation with civil society.
In addition, Brussels expects the election law to comply with recommendations made by the OSCE and the Venice Commission, and expects the strengthening of parliament's legislative and oversight functions.
Montenegro also must strengthen the management of personnel and the State Audit Institution.
"The rule of law should be strengthened particularly through the depoliticisation and re-strengthening the independence, autonomy, efficiency and accountability of judges and prosecutors," the EC underscored in its document.
It also said Montenegro should apply the legal and political framework for anti-discrimination in accordance with European and international standards, guaranteeing the legal status of displaced persons, particularly Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians.
Minister for European Integration Gordana Djurovic said she is satisfied. "These are very serious messages that we need to carefully work out," she said, adding that "all criteria are difficult."
Momcilo Radulovic, a political analyst and leader of the European Movement in Montenegro, is a pragmatist. No one in the EU would expect complete change in the next six months, he told SETimes.
He cited the example of Croatia, which at the beginning of its negotiations had no ministers, MPs or powerful tycoons behind bars.
"This happened only later. But, at the beginning, they demonstrated political will to begin personal and institutional changes", explained Radulović, adding the ball is firmly in Montenegro's court.
"It depends on us how quickly we will get the green light to start negotiations, and at what pace we will make progress towards the EU, " he said.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2010/11/11/feature-03
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