The European Commission produced very accurate and clear recommendations and guidelines for successful fulfillment of tasks concerning EU accession in this year’s Progress Report. This would also be right moment for every member of Montenegrin society to consider his/her role in the European integration process and to make contribution to the membership, said the Chief Negotiator for EU, Mr Aleksandar Drljević.
Mr Drljević presented today findings of the European Commission Report on Montenegro to the representatives of Montenegrin media.
Mr Drljević said that the Report made an assessment of the achieved progress regarding both the fulfillment of political and economic membership criteria and the capability of undertaking commitments from 33 negotiation chapters.
“European Commission recorded the achieved results and the progress Montenegro has made so far, but it also produced accurate and detailed guidelines for successful fulfillment of the tasks within the accession process. It pointed out the areas we should focus on”, said Mr Drljević.
Results and the progress made so far have been recognized in many negotiation chapters. Montenegro is ready to open the last Chapter, Chapter 8, and to temporarily close several chapters in which it managed to set up internal readiness.
“This Report is an opportunity for all members of our society to consider their role in the integration process”, said Chief Negotiator.
Negotiator for the Chapters 23 and 24, Mrs Marijana Laković, is satisfied with the progress made in the many-year long judicial reform. Draft Strategy for Judicial Reform outlines the measures which are in accordance with the EU recommendations concerning this area.
“As for the freedom of speech, the Government has been trying to improve the situation in the reporting period by amending set of media laws which are expected to be adopted at the end of this year. Three cases of attacks on journalists have been finished with final convictions. EC also pointed out weakness of media auto-regulation. This issue is up to you, representatives of media community. The Government will provide you with all the necessary support in tackling this issue”, said Mrs Laković.
Mr Drljević said he was very satisfied with what had been done in the negotiation process. However, he didn’t want to forecast the accession date.
“We still have a lot to do before the accession. What’s important for us is that there’s an accession perspective. Many factors have influence on the enlargement policy. We will stick to our reform activities and direct all of our capacities towards that objective”, said Mr Drljević.
