The thirteenth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at Ministerial level was held today in Luxembourg. The meeting marks a milestone in the evolution of the accession negotiations, since it is the first to have taken place since the Council approved the revised enlargement methodology, which also applies to the accession process of Montenegro.

The European Union delegation was led by Ms Ana Paula Zacarias, Secretary of State for European Affairs, on behalf of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Montenegrin delegation was led by the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Mr Zdravko Krivokapić.

The revised enlargement methodology aims to reinvigorate the accession process. It includes: a stronger focus on fundamental reforms; a stronger political steer; increased dynamism; and a more predictable process, based on objective criteria and rigorous positive and negative conditionality.

Providing the accession process with a stronger political steer from the Intergovernmental Conferences is one of the key elements of the revised enlargement methodology. The meeting therefore served to strengthen the dialogue between the Member States and Montenegro, with the aim of helping to focus efforts on key reforms that should allow for progress in the accession process.

The EU welcomed Montenegro’s efforts in this regard and noted that the advancement of the negotiations will continue to be guided by Montenegro’s progress in preparing for accession, as established in the Negotiation Framework.

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The Council today approved conclusions reaffirming the EU’s strong commitment towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable development Goals (SDGs), which continue to guide the EU internally and externally to build back better and greener.

The Council recognises that the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening progress towards the SDGs and therefore calls for enhanced dialogue and concrete operational actions to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs.

The Council calls on the Commission to propose such actions in conjunction with the delivery of the Commission President’s headline ambitions “A European Green Deal”. The Commission is also invited to engage in regular dialogue with the Council to further promote an integrated, strategic, ambitious and comprehensive approach to SDG implementation. This dialogue should take stock of progress made in the implementation of the SDGs at EU level in an integrated and coherent way and address strategic orientations.

The conclusions call on the Commission and EU member states to carry out communications and awareness-raising campaigns on the 2030 Agenda with a view to increasing shared ownership by the citizens, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders.

The Council remains committed towards reviewing progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and will step up efforts to mainstream the SDGs in its work across policy sectors.

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EpiPulse integrates several surveillance systems that were previously independent, provides new functionalities and a seamless access to data in one single platform. The portal facilitates the collection, analysis and dissemination of indicator- and event-based surveillance data on infectious diseases and associated health issues, including global epidemic intelligence, whole-genome sequencing, and health determinants. 

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Through this platform, ECDC aims to strengthen the prevention and control of infectious diseases by enhancing early threat detection and assessment. It will enable better preparedness and management of threats from infectious diseases at the EU and global level, through real-time monitoring of outbreak signals and events.