Do the ‘Fundamentals’ come first since the introduction of the EU’s new enlargement strategy? Measuring transformative effects in Montenegrin judiciary

Sammanfattning: This study examines whether the new EU enlargement strategy has brought expected results and led to the changes that go beyond adoption of formal rules and institutions in Montenegro. It establishes whether improvement in the sphere of judicial independence occurred since the introduction of the new EU approach to enlargement, in the next most likely candidate, by analysing the impact of each component of the new enlargement strategy. Firstly, it observes whether the measures from the Action plan for the Chapter 23, which apply to the Judicial Council functioning and to the overall judicial independence, have been fulfilled in practice. Secondly, the open-questionnaire checks whether the change in the enlargement strategy led to an increased involvement of the NGO sector, and in turn ensured a better compliance in practice by the Montenegrin government. Moreover, the questionnaire is also a way to examine the effect of the third and the fourth effect of the enlargement strategy, namely the early opening of Chapter 23 as well as the EU modified reporting on the achieved progress by the candidate country and the use of assessment scales. The research shows that even though there are positive effects of the new enlargement strategy already visible, there are some important domestic factors that can inhibit Montenegro to develop a good implementation record in judicial reform during the accession process.