Montenegro has become the first EU candidate country to face the European Union’s new safeguards mechanism for future members. As member states are expected to agree on a common position as early as next week, Podgorica is realizing that these conditions, including the possibility of suspending voting rights, are not open to negotiation.
The European Union is considering stronger oversight mechanisms for new member states to prevent violations of European values and abuses of the rights that come with membership. But Brussels’ message to candidate countries is clear: either accept the new conditions or give up the prospect of joining the bloc.
Last month, the European Commission proposed a 15-year probation period for countries joining the Union. The mechanism is intended to give the EU the ability to intervene swiftly against states that violate shared values and the principle of sincere cooperation between members.
The initiative followed a request by five EU founding members to draw lessons from the experience with Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, which for years used its veto power to put pressure on the Union and secure concessions in major decision-making processes.
“When I first raised this issue, I said: we do not want any more Trojan horses in the European Union. That was even before the elections in Hungary. Today, I can say that we do not want any more Viktor Orbáns,” Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said when presenting the measure.
New conditions, no room for negotiation
For Montenegro, the most advanced country in the EU integration process, abandoning its path towards EU membership is almost unthinkable. Podgorica has invested considerable administrative and political resources for more than a decade in meeting the conditions for accession.
Nevertheless, changing the rules at the final stage of the process has caused dissatisfaction among Montenegrin officials, who are avoiding public criticism of the proposal for fear of jeopardizing the negotiations.
A senior EU official, speaking anonymously to Euronews, said that safeguards had always been somewhat one-sided.
Such measures are not entirely new. They were also included in the accession treaties of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, but until now they have mainly concerned violations of economic, internal market and judicial rules.
The difference this time is that Brussels is considering much tougher measures, including the suspension of a member state’s voting rights.
Brussels sets the terms, Podgorica must accept
Unlike other negotiating chapters, Montenegro is not presenting the EU with a negotiating position in this case, nor is it being asked to meet intermediate reform targets. The main condition is accepting the mechanisms proposed by Brussels.
The European Commission is preparing the EU’s common positions on Chapters 34 and 35, which include provisions that will define institutional safeguards in Montenegro’s future accession treaty.
Last month, the Commission sent EU member states the first draft of these provisions for their comments. Ireland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, is gathering the governments’ positions and aims to present a consolidated position at ambassadorial level next week.
Once member states agree on their position, the Commission is expected to incorporate it into Montenegro’s accession treaty. This means Podgorica’s only opportunity to influence the final wording will be through lobbying the governments of EU member states, since changing an agreed common position would be extremely difficult.
The debate among member states centres on three main issues: the measures that could be triggered in cases of serious violations, including suspension of voting rights; the 15-year duration of the monitoring period, which candidate countries consider excessively long; and the decision-making process, under which the current proposal gives the European Commission considerable influence.
Some European capitals are more receptive to the concerns of candidate countries and are calling for a distinction between the political demand for stronger safeguards and the drafting of a legal framework that can be implemented in practice.
Italy, a member of the “Friends of the Western Balkans” group, has called for respect for equality among member states and for proportional measures tailored to each candidate country.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, has supported applying the same approach to all countries seeking EU membership, without making distinctions between them.
Regardless of which position ultimately prevails, one thing appears clear: Montenegro will not have the final say on the new conditions being imposed by the European Union.
