The ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) held a first round of discussions on Wednesday 15 June over the French proposal to set up, as early as this year, a “European Political Community” (EPC) to bring together EU countries and European states who want to contribute to the continent's stability and prosperity.
The importance of discussing such a political framework, which was first outlined in Strasbourg in early May by French President Emmanuel Macron (see EUROPE 12948/3), has reportedly been recognised by “a large majority” of countries, according to an EU source. And all Member States would have emphasised that the EPC should not replace the enlargement process or replicate the work undertaken by the Council of Europe and OSCE.
On Thursday 23 and Friday 24 June in Brussels, the European Council will be asked to decide whether to grant EU candidate country status to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia on the basis of opinions that have been presented by the European Commission. It will also meet with leaders of the Western Balkans.
Whatever the decision taken by the EU27, “the policy of enlargement – because of the requirement of undertaking reforms necessary to join the EU and the duration which necessarily follows – does not, today, offer the necessary political framework for responding to the urgency of the historical and geopolitical needs arising from the war against Ukraine and for developing the political structuring of our European continent”, said a French note.
This document details the outlines and functioning of the ‘European Political Community’, which “would be open to European states sharing a common set of democratic values”, irrespective of whether they are EU member states, candidate countries or countries who do not wish to join the Union. With a light-touch secretariat, the EPC would be a forum for coordination and cooperation projects in foreign and security policy or regarding sectoral areas, such as energy supply, food security, infrastructure, migration or the fight against organised crime.
In mid-May, the President of the European Council supported this idea, referring to the creation of a European Geopolitical Community (see EUROPE 12955/24).
See France’s note (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/256 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)