'Welcoming Montenegro would amount to about €3.2 billion'
The cost of Montenegro joining the EU – expected in 2028 – will cost European citizens less than €1 per head per year and bring new economic opportunities, according to the European Commission.
Europe’s 27 governments on Tuesday gave the green light to the drafting of an ‘accession’ treaty with Montenegro, prompting the Commission to set out the “expected financial implications” of the Balkan country’s EU enlargement.
The estimates are based on the Commission’s current long-term budget proposal but cover the period from 2028 to 2034, when the EU will operate under a new spending plan currently being negotiated by national governments.
“Welcoming Montenegro into the union would amount to about €3.2 billion,” said a Commission spokesman, stressing, amid calls from Germany and others for future EU spending to be cut, that the cost would be modest.
