EU leaders should give the green light to opening formal accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova at the December European summit, European Council President Charles Michel said in a recent interview with Lusa and other European media in Brussels.
“December will be an important moment. It will be a difficult meeting, a difficult European Council. I wouldn’t underestimate the challenges, but the Commission should publish a report in the coming weeks […]. The December European Council should take some decisions on Ukraine, on Moldova, and on whether we open negotiations,” said Michel.
Days ahead of the informal European Council in Granada on Friday, which will focus on institutional reforms given the bloc’s enlargement, Michel also said he expected decisions in December “on some of the Western Balkan countries”, as reports from the EU executive on the candidate countries’ compliance with reform requirements are expected in early November.
“It will then be up to the European Council “to see what the Commission’s report will put on the table” in December, Michel added.
“We gave clear signals in recent months when we decided to give Ukraine [candidate country] status. We sent a clear message not only from the European Council but also from many individual leaders that we need to speed up the process and make the necessary efforts. The fact that on Friday […] the whole European Council will discuss the future of the EU given this enlargement is, I think, a very powerful signal,” he said.
With regard to Ukraine and Moldova, which were granted official status as EU candidate countries in mid-2022, the hope is that they will have the green light to begin formal accession negotiations by the end of the year – an endorsement that requires unanimity from EU leaders.
Formal negotiations aim to prepare a candidate country in terms of adapting legislation and implementing the necessary judicial, administrative and economic reforms.
After having set himself the goal of 2030 for EU enlargement, Michel emphasised that “I maintain this goal and this deadline. This is clear to everyone”.
“Why is this date important? Because it’s a clear incentive for all of us to prepare and accelerate our efforts. Without a date, there was a common goal, but it was easy to procrastinate and not make the necessary decisions, ” the European Council president added.
A draft of the conclusions of the Granada summit, which Lusa has seen, states that “the candidate countries must step up their reform efforts, particularly in the field of the rule of law”, and the Union “must lay the necessary internal foundations to prepare for enlargement”.
Michel also said that “it is no surprise” that the fight against corruption should be “one of the main priorities” for countries like Ukraine to enter the EU.
Countries such as Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina are waiting to join the European bloc – some without progress for several years.
(Ana Matos Neves, edited by Cristina Cardoso | Lusa.pt)
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