Montenegro and the EU · updates automatically

Montenegro EU accession tracker: all 33 chapters

How many of the 33 negotiating chapters are provisionally closed, when, and which chapters change the rules for businesses that operate online. We check the official sources every day.

18/ 33

chapters provisionally closed

As of the conference on: 14 July 2026
Last automatic check: 3 October 2026
Government target: membership in: 2028

All 33 chapters

Provisionally closed chapters are highlighted. The “online business” tag marks areas that directly change the rules for websites, e-commerce and data.

Chapter 1
open
Free movement of goods
Opened: 20 June 2017
Chapter 2
closed
Freedom of movement for workers
Opened: 11 December 2017
Closed: 15 June 2026
Chapter 3
closed
Right of establishment and freedom to provide services
online businessProviding services in other EU countries and recognising professional qualifications.
Opened: 11 December 2017
Closed: 16 December 2025
Chapter 4
closed
Free movement of capital
online businessFree movement of capital and payments, including anti-money-laundering rules.
Opened: 24 June 2014
Closed: 16 December 2025
Chapter 5
closed
Public procurement
Opened: 18 December 2013
Closed: 27 June 2025
Chapter 6
closed
Company law
online businessSetting up and registering companies, financial reporting and company disclosure.
Opened: 18 December 2013
Closed: 16 December 2025
Chapter 7
closed
Intellectual property law
online businessCopyright, trademarks and designs, including the content you publish online.
Opened: 31 March 2014
Closed: 16 December 2024
Chapter 8
closed
Competition policy
Opened: 30 June 2020
Closed: 14 July 2026
Chapter 9
open
Financial services
online businessBanking, insurance and payment services.
Opened: 22 June 2015
Chapter 10
closed
Information society and media
online businessElectronic communications, e-commerce and information society services, electronic identification and audiovisual media.
Opened: 31 March 2014
Closed: 16 December 2024
Chapter 11
closed
Agriculture and rural development
Opened: 13 December 2016
Closed: 16 December 2025
Chapter 12
open
Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy
Opened: 30 June 2016
Chapter 13
closed
Fisheries
Opened: 30 June 2016
Closed: 16 December 2025
Chapter 14
open
Transport policy
Opened: 21 December 2015
Chapter 15
open
Energy
Opened: 21 December 2015
Chapter 16
open
Taxation
online businessTaxation, including VAT rules for distance sales and online services.
Opened: 30 March 2015
Chapter 17
open
Economic and monetary policy
Opened: 25 June 2018
Chapter 18
open
Statistics
Opened: 16 December 2014
Chapter 19
open
Social policy and employment
Opened: 13 December 2016
Chapter 20
closed
Enterprise and industrial policy
online businessPolicy for small and medium-sized enterprises and industrial competitiveness.
Opened: 18 December 2013
Closed: 16 December 2024
Chapter 21
closed
Trans-European networks
Opened: 22 June 2015
Closed: 17 March 2026
Chapter 22
open
Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments
Opened: 20 June 2017
Chapter 23
open
Judiciary and fundamental rights
online businessJudiciary and fundamental rights, including personal data protection (GDPR).
Opened: 18 December 2013
Chapter 24
open
Justice, freedom and security
Opened: 18 December 2013
Chapter 25
closed
Science and research
Opened: 18 December 2012
Closed: 18 December 2012
Chapter 26
closed
Education and culture
Opened: 15 April 2013
Closed: 15 April 2013
Chapter 27
open
Environment and climate change
Opened: 10 December 2018
Chapter 28
closed
Consumer and health protection
online businessConsumer rights, including buying online, and health protection.
Opened: 16 December 2014
Closed: 15 June 2026
Chapter 29
closed
Customs union
online businessCustoms rules for goods moving into and out of the EU.
Opened: 16 December 2014
Closed: 14 July 2026
Chapter 30
closed
External relations
Opened: 30 March 2015
Closed: 20 June 2017
Chapter 31
open
Foreign, security and defence policy
Opened: 24 June 2014
Chapter 32
closed
Financial control
Opened: 24 June 2014
Closed: 26 January 2026
Chapter 33
open
Financial and budgetary provisions
Opened: 16 December 2014

Intergovernmental conferences

Every conference at which chapters were opened or closed, with the official source.

14 July 2026 · 18/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 8 Competition policy · 29 Customs union
Source: Council of the EU press release, 14 Jul 2026: Enlargement - EU and Montenegro close accession negotiations on competition policy and customs union (28th Accession Conference)
15 June 2026 · 16/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 2 Freedom of movement for workers · 28 Consumer and health protection
Source: Council of the EU press release, 15 Jun 2026: EU and Montenegro close accession negotiations on freedom of movement of workers and consumer and health protection (27th Accession Conference, Luxembourg)
17 March 2026 · 14/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 21 Trans-European networks
Source: Council of the EU press release, 17 Mar 2026: EU and Montenegro provisionally close chapter on Trans-European networks (26th Accession Conference)
26 January 2026 · 13/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 32 Financial control
Source: Council of the EU press release, 26 Jan 2026: EU and Montenegro provisionally close another chapter (25th Accession Conference)
16 December 2025 · 12/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 3 Right of establishment and freedom to provide services · 4 Free movement of capital · 6 Company law · 11 Agriculture and rural development · 13 Fisheries
Source: Council of the EU press release, 16 Dec 2025: EU and Montenegro provisionally close another five chapters (24th Accession Conference)
27 June 2025 · 7/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 5 Public procurement
Source: Council of the EU press release, 27 Jun 2025: EU and Montenegro provisionally close public procurement chapter (23rd Accession Conference)
16 December 2024 · 6/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 7 Intellectual property law · 10 Information society and media · 20 Enterprise and industrial policy
Source: Council of the EU press release, 16 Dec 2024: Seventeenth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at ministerial level
30 June 2020 · 3/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 8 Competition policy
Source: Council of the EU press release, 30 Jun 2020: Fifth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at deputy level (last screened chapter opened)
10 December 2018 · 3/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 27 Environment and climate change
Source: Council of the EU press release, 10 Dec 2018: Twelfth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at ministerial level
25 June 2018 · 3/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 17 Economic and monetary policy
Source: Council of the EU press release, 25 Jun 2018: Eleventh meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at ministerial level, Luxembourg
11 December 2017 · 3/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 2 Freedom of movement for workers · 3 Right of establishment and freedom to provide services
Source: Council of the EU press release, 11 Dec 2017: Tenth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at ministerial level
20 June 2017 · 3/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 30 External relations
Chapters opened: 1 Free movement of goods · 22 Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments
Source: Council of the EU press release, 20 Jun 2017: Ninth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at ministerial level, Luxembourg
13 December 2016 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 11 Agriculture and rural development · 19 Social policy and employment
Source: Council of the EU press release, 13 Dec 2016: Eighth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro
30 June 2016 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 12 Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy · 13 Fisheries
Source: Council of the EU press release, 30 Jun 2016: Accession conference with Montenegro - talks opened on chapters 12 and 13 (deputy level)
21 December 2015 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 14 Transport policy · 15 Energy
Source: Council of the EU press release, 21 Dec 2015: Accession conference with Montenegro - transport and energy chapters opened
22 June 2015 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 9 Financial services · 21 Trans-European networks
Source: Council of the EU press release, 22 Jun 2015: Sixth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at ministerial level - 2 new chapters opened
30 March 2015 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 16 Taxation · 30 External relations
Source: Council of the EU press release, 30 Mar 2015: Montenegro and EU open two more negotiating chapters (deputy level)
16 December 2014 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 18 Statistics · 28 Consumer and health protection · 29 Customs union · 33 Financial and budgetary provisions
Source: Council of the EU press release, 16 Dec 2014: Fifth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at ministerial level - 4 new chapters opened (chapter numbers confirmed by eu.me timeline and EC key milestones; press release body is an image-only PDF)
24 June 2014 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 4 Free movement of capital · 31 Foreign, security and defence policy · 32 Financial control
Source: Government of Montenegro (gov.me), 24 Jun 2014: fourth ministerial-level Accession Conference, Luxembourg, opens chapters 4, 31 and 32
31 March 2014 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 7 Intellectual property law · 10 Information society and media
Source: Government of Montenegro (gov.me), 24 Jun 2014: chapters 7 and 10 were opened at the deputy-level Accession Conference in Brussels on 31 March 2014 (Council press release of 31 Mar 2014 exists as PDF only)
18 December 2013 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters opened: 5 Public procurement · 6 Company law · 20 Enterprise and industrial policy · 23 Judiciary and fundamental rights · 24 Justice, freedom and security
Source: Government of Montenegro (gov.me), 18 Dec 2013: third ministerial-level Accession Conference opens chapters 5, 6, 20, 23 and 24
15 April 2013 · 2/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 26 Education and culture
Chapters opened: 26 Education and culture
Source: Government of Montenegro (gov.me), 18 Dec 2013: Chapter 26 opened and provisionally closed at the deputy-level Accession Conference in Brussels on 15 April 2013
18 December 2012 · 1/33 closed in total
Chapters closed: 25 Science and research
Chapters opened: 25 Science and research
Source: Government of Montenegro (eu.me), Chapter 25 page: opened and provisionally closed at the IGC in Brussels on 18 December 2012

Government targets

5 December 2024
The Government of Montenegro adopted the “Barometer 26” platform, aiming to conclude accession negotiations by the end of 2026 and join the EU by 2028.
gov.me
1 October 2026
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić: Montenegro will close all chapters by the end of 2026, and 2028 should be the year it becomes the European Union’s 28th member state.
gov.me

These are political targets set by the Government of Montenegro, not deadlines set by the European Union.

How this tracker updates

01Every day we automatically check the chapter status page on the Government of Montenegro’s EU portal (eu.me).
02The date and source of any change come from official European Commission and Council of the EU announcements.
03If the sources disagree or something unexpected appears, the change is not published automatically; our team checks it first.
04This is not an official source, and we are not affiliated with the institutions of the European Union.

You may use the data with attribution and a link to this page (CC BY 4.0).

Download the data (JSON)

What it means for your business

EU rules on data, consumers and online sales arrive as chapters close, and EU buyers already look for services in Montenegro today.

01
Your buyers' languages
SEO and AI visibility in the languages of the markets your buyers come from, with correct hreflang.
02
GDPR and measurement
Consent before analytics, and measurement that follows EU rules.
03
Accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA as the practical standard for your site and forms.
04
EU trust signals
Legal company details, reviews and consistent business data everywhere.

Read what changes for your website Let's talk

Montenegro EU accession tracker: all 33 chapters

All 33 chapters

Free movement of goods

Freedom of movement for workers

Right of establishment and freedom to provide services

Free movement of capital

Public procurement

Company law

Intellectual property law

Competition policy

Financial services

Information society and media

Agriculture and rural development

Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy

Fisheries

Transport policy

Energy

Taxation

Economic and monetary policy

Statistics

Social policy and employment

Enterprise and industrial policy

Trans-European networks

Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments

Judiciary and fundamental rights

Justice, freedom and security

Science and research

Education and culture

Environment and climate change

Consumer and health protection

Customs union

External relations

Foreign, security and defence policy

Financial control

Financial and budgetary provisions

Intergovernmental conferences

What it means for your business

Your buyers' languages

GDPR and measurement

Accessibility

EU trust signals