The Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, announced, on Tuesday 20 April, at the end of the General Affairs Council (GAC) videoconference, that the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union intends to include EU enlargement on the agenda of the GAC Council of 22 June.
The first objective is to conclude the negotiations on the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III), Ms Zacarias said, hoping for an agreement with the European Parliament as soon as possible.
The Secretary of State also wants the first intergovernmental conferences with Albania and North Macedonia to be held before the end of June.
Asked about the tensions between Bulgaria and Macedonia, which are preventing the opening of accession negotiations with Skopje, Ms Zacarias said that the Portuguese Presidency will continue the ongoing discussions with the Bulgarian and Macedonian authorities.
On behalf of the Commission, Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said he hoped for progress on enlargement by the end of the Portuguese Presidency.
The Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, briefed the ministers on the EU accession process. “It is essential that the EU Council adopts the negotiating frameworks with Albania and North Macedonia as soon as possible and holds the first intergovernmental conferences” with the two candidate countries, he stressed via Twitter. The Commissioner also called for an acceleration of negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)