The Presidents of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, had very harsh words on Friday 18 October about the inability of European leaders to give their unanimous agreement to the opening of accession negotiations with Skopje and Tirana (see EUROPE 12351/4).
A non-decision that the two presidents described as a "historic mistake". "It's not a failure, it's a mistake, I'm embarrassed (...) The two countries passed their exams, I can't say the same for the Member States", Tusk explained. Addressing the Albanians and Macedonians, the President of the European Council asked them not to give up, saying he understood their frustration. According to Mr Juncker, if the EU is to be respected throughout the world, it must keep its promises.
A large majority in favour of openness
On Thursday 17 October, "it was not a question of saying whether or not the countries were ready to join the EU, but whether they could become candidates with whom to start negotiations", Mr Juncker recalled. "The majority would have liked to say so, but some (Member States) were not ready yet", he added, supported by Mr. Tusk.
The Finnish Prime Minister, Antti Rinne, also spoke of a "very large majority" for openness and a "very small minority" not in favour of opening negotiations with at least one of the two countries. According to the Irish leader Leo Varadkar, this minority has made "the wrong assessment".
France, Denmark and the Netherlands were the least inclined to open negotiations. And Paris and Rome were opposed to the decoupling of the two candidates.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has a completely different version of the debates. "Those who say that there was almost unanimous support for bringing in the two countries are not right. There was an overwhelming majority for North Macedonia, but a sizeable section said: "For Albania it's not the same, we don't want them to enter", he said. According to him, "it would have been a 'fatal mistake' for the region. We must not lie to ourselves".
Dutchman Mark Rutte recalled that the leaders had said they would come back to the issue. "We never said we would decide on 18 October", he said.
Marked divisions
When they left the EU Council, the Heads of State and Government were still as divided as ever. According to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, by creating such anxiety in the Western Balkans, Europe is shooting itself in the foot in terms of security and opening an advantage for other countries.
According to Mr Rinne, by opening accession negotiations, the EU could have strengthened stability and peace and given a perspective to the people. "There is now a risk that we may give a different impression, despite the fact that a very large majority wanted to say 'Welcome to the European family!'", he stated regretfully.
But according to his Dutch counterpart, "the two countries are not ready". However, Mr Rutte said that North Macedonia was very close to the goal, but that Albania still had a lot of tasks to do. According to him, Skopje could receive the green light to open negotiations in March or May 2020.
Called out on the issue, Mr Macron "completely confirms (his) choice". "A profoundly dispassionate, lucid and realistic debate on these topics is needed. I reject the stalemate dialogue between those who would like us to renounce our principles and those who cling to an unacceptable lack of realism", he explained. "I disagree with those who think that enlargement is the teleology of Europe today. We are too slow in reforming ourselves to expand", he added.
Mr Rutte announced that France and the Netherlands would work on proposals to modernise the mechanism of the accession process. A procedural change supported by Chancellor Merkel, who wants it to be more transparent and reversible.
Return to the subject no later than May 2020
In the absence of any real conclusions on the subject, the leaders only specify in the text they adopted on Friday that "the European Council will return to the question of enlargement before the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Zagreb in May 2020".
European Parliament President deeply disappointed
In a statement, the President of the European Parliament said he was "deeply disappointed" by the failure of European leaders to take a decision. "When we call on neighbouring countries to make an extra effort to change and they do, it is our duty to keep our word. It will be difficult to explain to the people of these countries why we are delaying the next step despite the progress that has been made", he warned.
The European Parliament is expected to debate on Wednesday 23 October on the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with editorial staff)