Brussels - Montenegro moved a small step closer to becoming a candidate for European Union membership on Thursday as the bloc's member states agreed to send its application for official scrutiny.

Montenegro applied for official candidate status on December 15, but EU member states spent the next four months at loggerheads as they debated whether the small Balkan state - which broke away from union with Serbia in 2006 - should be granted it.

On Thursday, however, they agreed to pass the application on to the EU's executive, the European Commission, asking the body to advise them on whether to accept Montenegro as an official candidate.

Commission officials said that the time the in-depth study required to make that decision takes would depend on the speed with which Montenegro responds to EU questions.

In the case of current candidate Croatia, the process took 14 months, while in the case of Macedonia it took 18 months.

Once the commission makes its recommendation, it will be up to EU member states to decide whether or not to accept it, and when the bloc should open accession talks.

Member states will have to agree on the issue unanimously, making it a potentially difficult negotiation. (dpa)