(23/06/06) Podgorica Plans Dash for Brussels (Balkan Insight)

• 2006-06-27
• Europa in de wereld

While government claims it can complete key EU deal this year, sceptics say it might not be so easy.

By Nedjeljko Rudovic in Podgorica (Balkan Insight, 23 June 06)

Montenegro hopes it will move faster towards European Union membership following its amicable divorce from Serbia, freed of the burden of Serbia's war-crimes issues.

Podgorica expects the EU to give a green light to start talks with Montenegro between July and September after the smaller of the two partners in the state union seceded following the May 21 referendum.

In mid-June, Brussels announced it was already drafting a new, separate Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA, for Montenegro.

This followed the suspension of negotiations with the state union in May over its unsatisfactory cooperation with the International Criminal Court for Former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

Officials both in Brussels and Podgorica say that with a small population of only around 620,000, Montenegro may find it relatively easy to sign a SAA, as its size will enable it adjust easily to EU standards.

It is also no longer burdened with the war crimes issue affecting Serbia, though it has separate problem areas, such as corruption, a poor judiciary and organised crime.

The EU started SAA talks with the state union last October, having adopted a so-called twin-track approach.

This involved reaching separate trade and economic agreements with the two republics, while leaving the state union to sign up to the rest of the terms as one unit.

After two rounds of negotiations, talks folded in May over Belgrade's failure to hand over the Bosnian war crimes suspect General Ratko Mladic.

Now Podgorica is going it alone. On signing its own SAA with Brussels, the EU will open its borders to all Montenegrin products manufactured to EU standards, albeit with some quantity restrictions.

Montenegro will also dismantle any remaining tariff barriers.

The minister for European integration, Gordana Djurovic, said it was realistic to expect the SAA to be signed by the end of this year, as half the work on it had been completed before talks were suspended.

The EU commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, on May 22, said SAA talks with Montenegro need not start from scratch but would resume from the point where they were suspended.

"The European perspective is open for Montenegro as well for Serbia," he said.

Djurovic said Montenegro's starting position was promising, as a significant degree of harmonisation of legislation and institution-building had already taken place, while macroeconomic stability had also been achieved.

"As a small flexible system...we can surely move faster towards the European Union," she told Balkan Insight.

"On the other hand, given our size, Montenegro's progress will be subjected to stricter scrutiny and analyses.

"We are just waiting for the official go-ahead to start the official negotiations. However, technical informal communication has been in place all along [and] I think we can make considerable progress very fast, finalising the SAA text and signing it this autumn."

Some Brussels officials agree that Montenegro's small size is more a help than a hindrance.

One EU official in charge of the SAA talks with Montenegro said Brussels had fewer contentious issues with Montenegro than with Serbia, as there was no Mladic factor to derail talks.

The same official said there were fewer economic problems as well.

"Montenegro is predominantly a tourist country with a service-based economy, so it does not need particularly to protect its manufacturing [sector] from EU competition," the official argued, contrasting this state of affairs with Serbia, which has a strong agricultural sector that its politicians are keen to protect.

Josep Lloveras, head of the European Commission delegation in Belgrade, meanwhile confirmed that talks with Montenegro could start as early as July.

"We will make every effort to do the homework ... so the commission can submit a proposal over the mandate for talks with Montenegro before the summer break," said Lloveras.

As the break begins in August, Podgorica hopes the EU Ministerial Council will give the EC a mandate to resume SAA negotiations before then.

However, all is not plain sailing for Montenegro in its talks with Brussels. It may have fewer outstanding economic issues than Belgrade, but it has separate problems of its own that the EU wants to see addressed.

A "partnership" document, verified by the EU Ministerial Council in January, listed a catalogue of problems facing Montenegro, placing particular emphasis on the lack of independence in the judiciary and on corruption.

"Montenegro must show determination to carry out the judicial reforms needed to secure the independence, professionalism and efficiency of the justice system," it read. "The autonomy of the prosecutor's offices, particularly the one for organised crime, must be further strengthened."

The EU wants to see action on conflicts of interest, an anti-corruption strategy and reforms of state administration.

Over the economy, it wants to see further price liberalisation and more harmonisation of legislation on standards and certification.

In earlier documents, the EU complained also of links between segments of the government and organised crime.

A source at the EC delegation in Belgrade voiced fears that Montenegro might lack the basic administrative capacity to conduct EU negotiations.

"Many things need to be finalised - the implementation of the 'acqui communitaire' needs to be set in place and thousands of documents need to be translated," this source said.

"I can't see how 15 people employed at the [Montenegrin] ministry for EU integration can do this on their own. They need at least 200 experts working on the process."

However, Renata Vitez, an EU expert assisting the Montenegrin government in its integration efforts, told Balkan Insight that the ministry for integration was managing the process.

"EU standards are the same either for small or big countries," she said. "It is the same as when you compare a big corporation and a small enterprise. In principle, it is better to be big, but it is not crucial.

"The most important thing is to be successful. Small entities may be - and some of them certainly are - very successful. A small company can reach a consensus on strategic decision-making process much more easily and quickly."

Vitez said it helped that "everybody in Montenegro - both the pro-independence supporters and unionists" was in favour of EU membership.

Less optimistically, Branko Radulovic, of the prominent NGO Group for Changes, said he thought Montenegro would take far longer to complete SAA negotiations than the politicians were claiming.

Radulovic cited the example of neighbouring Albania, which only signed its SAA this June, a full three years after it started negotiations in February 2003.

Albania faced much the same challenges as Montenegro, he went on, including corruption and organised crime, which, according to the findings of some international institutions, are not as rife in Albania as they are in Montenegro.

"Montenegro will need much more time than the government likes to think to complete this phase of European integration," said Radulovic.

Nedjeljko Rudovic is BIRN's Montenegro coordinator and also works for the Podgorica daily Vijesti. Balkan Insight is BIRN's online publication.

This article was published with the support of the British embassy in Belgrade, as part of BIRN's Minority Media Training and Reporting Project.