Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-28-Speech-3-203-000"
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"en.20120328.20.3-203-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, honourable Members, the EU has given the citizens of Montenegro the hope of a future within the EU. This is a future and an aspiration that is now within reach. In Montenegro there is broad national agreement on the desire for EU membership, and it is impressive how far Montenegro has come in a short space of time in its efforts to draw closer to the EU.
In my capacity as a member of the Danish Presidency, I visited the country myself on 21 February this year. Whilst there, I saw a strong commitment on the part of Montenegro and a willingness to make reforms. In a short space of time, Montenegro has implemented many important reforms, including ones to develop a more effective rule of law and to safeguard citizens’ fundamental rights. These are reforms that are in the interests of both Montenegro and the EU.
All of this is fine, but there is still a need for progress, particularly with regard to combating corruption and organised crime. In this regard, I look forward to the Commission’s next progress report, which will evaluate the many reform initiatives.
During the debate today we have touched on a number of the areas in which reform is required. There is broad agreement between the EU and Montenegro on which areas it is relevant to continue to work on, which I am pleased about. Montenegro’s future reform work should focus in particular on completing the constitutional reform, combating organised crime and corruption and effectively implementing the legislation that has been adopted, namely in areas such as the financing of political parties and anti-discrimination.
In this connection, I look forward to the completion of the work on the constitutional reform, which will increase the independence of the judiciary. The forthcoming reforms will, without doubt, shape citizens’ day-to-day lives and place considerable demands on them. In this regard, it is important that the country’s administrative capacity continues to be increased. One way this can be done is with a contribution from the EU’s Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, which up to now has been used to good effect in Montenegro.
With a small and open economy, Montenegro has also been hit by the crisis, and, like other places in Europe, it has the prospect of low economic growth and unemployment. For this reason, too, it is important for Montenegro to implement a policy that will promote growth conditions for the corporate sector. Montenegro has already made progress towards establishing a market economy, and further reforms will reinforce this development.
I am convinced that Montenegro will continue to do its best to fulfil its obligations under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Progress in terms of EU integration is, as we all know, based on merit. I am pleased that Montenegro has already succeeded in meeting a good number of the accession criteria.
When the countries involved in the EU integration process deliver, the EU must do the same. It is my hope that, during the Danish Presidency, we will be able to open accession negotiations with Montenegro in June. Of course, the progress we expect in connection with Montenegro’s EU integration will first and foremost benefit Montenegro itself, but I am convinced that this progress will also help to provide positive momentum for the efforts of the other countries in the Western Balkans to draw near to the EU. This matter is therefore important for Montenegro, the Balkans and the EU. It is a matter on which the Danish Presidency will work closely with Parliament and the Commission in order to achieve the results that we all agree we want to see, for the benefit of Montenegro and of Europe."@en1
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