| Accession of Montenegro to the European Union |
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| Status | Candidate negotiating (screening complete) |
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| Earliest possible entry | 2028 |
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| Application |
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| European perspective | December 2002 |
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| Potential candidate | December 2002 |
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| Membership application | 15 December 2008 |
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| Candidate status | 17 December 2010 |
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| Screening | 29 June 2012 |
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| Screened & negotiations commence | 27 June 2013
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| Clusters open | 6 |
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| Chapters open | 27 |
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| Clusters closed | 0 |
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| Chapters closed | 6
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| (27+1) |
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| Population | 446,828,803 | 447,461,961
0.14% |
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| Area | 4,233,262 km2
1,634,472 mi2 | 4,247,074 km2
1,639,805 mi2
0.3% |
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| HDI | 0.896 | 0.893
0.1% |
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| GDP (PPP) | $25.399 trillion | $25.416 trillion
0.07% |
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| GDP per capita (PPP) | $56,928 | $56,605
0.5% |
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| GDP | $17.818 trillion | $17.825 trillion
0.03% |
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| GDP per capita | $39,940 | $39,699
0.6% |
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| Gini | 30.0 | 30.1
0.1% |
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| Official Languages | 24 | 25
Montenegrin +1 |
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Accession of Montenegro to the European Union is on the agenda for future enlargement of the EU.
After voting for independence from Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, Montenegro began the process of accession to the European Union by agreeing to a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, which officially came into force on 1 May 2010. Montenegro officially applied to join the EU on 15 December 2008. Membership negotiations began on 29 June 2012. As of 2024, Montenegro's goal is to achieve membership of the EU by 2028, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that Montenegro could complete the negotiation process needed to join the EU by the end of 2026 or 2027.
It is one of 9 current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Among the 6 candidates with open negotiations (Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Moldova and Ukraine), the most advanced stage of the negotiations—defined as meeting the interim benchmarks for negotiation chapter 23 and 24 which allow the closing process of all negotiation chapters to start—has so far only been reached by Montenegro. As of December 2024, 27 out of 33 chapters remain to be closed.
