Montenegro and the Council of Europe

Montenegrin membership in the Council of Europe had two phases: the first one within the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, and the second one as an independent State.

The State Union joined the Council of Europe on 3 April 2003. After the accession, regular monitoring procedure was established in order to follow the fulfillment of the commitments undertaken when joining the Council of Europe, within which ten monitoring reports were prepared.

Three years later, Montenegro called for a referendum on independence, which was held on 21 May 2006 and decided that Montenegro would continue as an independent State. Serbia being a legal successor to the State Union, Montenegro had to re-apply for its membership to the Council of Europe.

During the accession procedure, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe /PACE/ thoroughly examined the legal and political situation in Montenegro and accordingly made recommendations. Finally, PACE recommended to the Council of Europe Council of Ministers to invite Montenegro to join the organisation. The ceremony of Montenegrin joining the Council of Europe took place on 11 May 2007. On this occasion, Montenegro undertook a range of commitments listed in the Opinion No. 261 (2007) (http://www.venice.coe.int/docs/2007/CDL-AD(2007)047-e.asp), one of them being to ensure by the new Constitution retroactive application of the European Convention on Human Rights and thus an effective human rights protection even in the gap between the dissolution of the State Union and the accession of Montenegro to the Council of Europe.

Following the accession, regular monitoring procedure has been established for Montenegro alone with focus on fulfillment of the commitments undertaken when acceding to the Council of Europe. In the meantime, projects already undergoing in various fields in Montenegro continue.