On Thursday, 7 November, Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations, told the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs that the European Council's refusal to open EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania in October was already having a negative impact.
“The refusal to start negotiations has already affected our work in the region. But we must maintain our efforts nevertheless”, he said. “Our influence is now weaker. Not opening negotiations is regarded as a mistake internationally”, he added.
“We have a Europe that is trying to convince people of the merits of multilateralism but our refusal has undermined our credibility. We are one of the biggest players on the world stage and we have just weakened one of our greatest strengths”, said the Commissioner, before going on to lament the fact that “we are not keeping our promises”, even though the required criteria have been met.
“Those who believe that we need to review our internal rules before the next phase of enlargement are right, but the accession process is long and we must be able to conduct these processes in parallel”, he explained. In Mr Hahn’s opinion, the progress made in the Western Balkans in recent years would not have been achieved without a clear European vision.
When asked about reforming the process, the Commissioner explained that there were already safeguards in place. “No procedure automatically leads to accession; Turkey is an example, I believe”, he said, adding that negotiations could be interrupted if there was a change regarding the rule of law.
“There is always room for improvement with procedures”, he acknowledged. He felt that the main issue was “whether or not promises can be taken seriously with regard to opening” accession negotiations.
In addition, in the next multiannual financial framework, “we have proposed that funds should not be distributed by country any more, but should be distributed thematically. This will create more competition between different sectors and allow for a more flexible response in order to stimulate competition”, he said. He stated that the EU invests €1 billion in the Western Balkans every year. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)