On Thursday 24 October, the European Parliament expressed its deep “disappointment” at the Union's inability to agree on the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, “due to the blockade by France, Denmark and the Netherlands”. According to Parliament, these two candidate countries “have made considerable efforts and meet the EU’s requirements for opening accession negotiations” (see EUROPE 12352/2).
The S&D Group's amendment to delete the reference to countries other than France, which were responsible for the blockage at the last European Council, was rejected in plenary.
“Strategic mistake”. By adopting (412 votes in favour, 136 against and 30 abstentions) a joint resolution by the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, ECR and GUE/NGL groups on the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, MEPs stress that this lack of a decision is a “strategic mistake and has a detrimental effect on the EU’s credibility”, as the integration of eligible countries allows the Union to maintain its role on the international stage and protect its interests. “Further dismantlement” of the enlargement policy could lead to an increasingly unstable situation in the Union's immediate neighbourhood, warns the Chamber .
Parliament welcomes North Macedonia’s efforts to resolve several disputes with its neighbours and welcomes the recent judicial reforms in Albania.
State of play. The European Parliament calls on Member States to show “responsibility” towards these two countries and to “take a unanimous positive decision on the opening of negotiations at their next meeting”. They note with concern that the absence of a decision at EU Council level “could allow other foreign actors, whose activity might not be in line with EU values and interests, to engage more closely with both North Macedonia and Albania”.
Finally, MEPs invite the next Commission to carry out an “immediate” assessment of the state of play of enlargement policy and to “re-evaluate and amend its February 2018 Strategy for the Western Balkans accordingly”.
During the debate, the day before, the Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, regretted that with this non-decision, “the EU has lost a large part of its reliability, credibility and reputation in the world”. He criticised the countries responsible for this blockage for having only found “excuses”. According to the Commissioner, it is possible to carry out the two exercises, namely the deepening and enlargement of the EU, in parallel. In particular, France justified its opposition by the need to reform the functioning of the EU before opening up to new members.
The European Council will return to the issue of enlargement before the Western Balkans Summit (Zagreb, May 2020), the Finnish Presidency recalled. “The EU Council's work continues and we will not give up the work.” (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)