France has slowed down Montenegro’s progress toward joining the European Union, potentially affecting the Western Balkan country’s scheduled accession steps.
According to Vijesti, the Montenegrin government risks closing only three out of the five negotiation chapters planned to be concluded by the end of this year, as Paris blocked progress on two key chapters: agriculture and fisheries.
France’s official stance was revealed during the meeting of the European Council Working Group on Friday. French representatives opposed the closure of Chapter 11, related to agriculture and rural development, and Chapter 13, concerning fisheries, arguing that the work done does not meet EU standards.
After these discussions, the matter moves to the next stage: the intergovernmental conference at the ministerial level. At this stage, only three chapters are expected to be closed: Chapter 3 (right of establishment of enterprises and freedom to provide services), Chapter 4 (free movement of capital), and Chapter 6 (commercial law). Although theoretically France’s decision could be reconsidered at the ministerial level, diplomatic sources suggest that the likelihood of change is minimal, according to Vijesti.
Montenegro began EU accession negotiations on June 29, 2012. Since then, Podgorica has opened all 33 negotiation chapters and provisionally closed seven – three at the end of last year and one in June of this year.
