During the presentation of the 2016 Enlargement package on Wednesday 9 November, European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn announced that the Commission would continue to recommend opening accession negotiations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), on condition that the country fully implemented the political agreement of June and July 2015 and undertook urgent priority reforms.
Addressing the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, Hahn emphasised that FYROM was not yet out of its internal political crisis, "despite the recent steps forward". "The leaders need to tackle the crisis and systemic problems. Credible parliamentary elections are required (planned for 11 December) and priority reforms need to be implemented", he said. In its 2016 follow-up report, the Commission stated that democracy and the rule of law "have been constantly challenged" and regretted that "the country suffers from a divisive political culture and a lack of capacity for compromise".
FYROM has made limited progress over the past year in the area of public administration. "Furthermore, the lack of political commitment to deliver on necessary reforms in public financial management led to a significant reduction of EU financial assistance in 2016", the Commission states. "Achievements of the previous decade’s reform process have been undermined by recurrent political interference in the work of the judiciary", the Commission adds, saying there is a "need to address effectively the lack of independence of the judiciary and prevent selective justice". The situation is scarcely any better in the fight against corruption and the report reveals that "the structural shortcomings of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, and political interference in its work, have minimised the impact of past efforts".
Similarly, the inter-ethnic situation has remained fragile and the country still has to make efforts to ensure respect for human rights and those of vulnerable groups. The Commission also says that the "name issue" needs to be resolved as a matter of urgency. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)