On Wednesday 16 December, after weeks of discussions, the ambassadors of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) gave their political agreement to draft conclusions on enlargement. The EU Council once again blocked the adoption of the text on Thursday 17.
Initially, the conclusions should have been adopted by the Environment Ministers without discussion. However, two delegations - the Czech Republic and Slovakia - were opposed.
In a joint statement issued on the evening of 17 December, the two countries explained that “the current text contains elements, including the notion of falsification of history, which in our view would be extremely detrimental to the enlargement process and could lead to further complications in the future”.
According to the draft conclusions dated 16 December obtained by EUROPE and discussed by the ambassadors, the agreements between North Macedonia and Greece on the one hand and Bulgaria on the other “should effectively put an end to any claims based on a misinterpretation of history”.
This sentence was included “at the insistence of Bulgaria”, a Bulgarian spokesman said. He regretted the veto on the conclusions, which “risks undermining the EU’s credibility and prevents the Union from sending the much-needed signals to the Western Balkans, in particular as regards the necessary reforms that the candidate countries should undertake”.
“We will not allow the Union to be the judge of our common history, the way we identify ourselves or the language we use. These questions belong to the parties concerned”, justified the Czech and Slovak delegations in their statement. According to Prague and Bratislava, given the importance of the text and the debate at ambassadorial level, the final adoption of the text should have taken place at the General Affairs Council. This Council is responsible for EU enlargement issues.
The conclusions were to be the subject of an information point at the Coreper meeting on 18 December. According to our information, it was not envisaged that the German EU Council Presidency would publish the text in its own name, as is sometimes done in the absence of unanimity.
In the draft conclusions of 16 December, which are 27 pages long and which relate only to the countries of the Western Balkans and not to Turkey, the Council reaffirms its commitment to enlargement and its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
“The Council continues to expect partners to take ownership of and commit themselves fully to European values and to demonstrate their political will by resolutely pursuing the necessary reforms in the interest of their populations”, the text stresses.
According to the Council, there is an urgent need to focus on fundamental reforms to address a number of “persistent structural shortcomings” in the areas of the rule of law, fundamental rights, strengthening of democratic institutions and public administration reform as well as economic criteria. “A solid and sustainable track record in implementing reforms and concrete and tangible results in these crucial areas remain essential, in particular to determine the overall pace of accession negotiations”, the Council recalls.
The draft conclusions also underline that good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation remain essential elements of the enlargement process.
Although the Council was not able to adopt the accession negotiating frameworks for North Macedonia and Albania (see EUROPE 12618/2), in particular because of a Bulgarian veto, the Council looked forward to the first Intergovernmental Conference with Skopje and - “provided that the conditions set out in the Council conclusions of March 2020 are met - with Tirana “as soon as possible” after the approval of these frameworks. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)