Ukraine, followed by Moldova, opened, in the evening of Monday 15 June in Luxembourg, their first cluster of accession negotiation chapters with the EU, the so-called ‘fundamentals’ cluster. These openings come after the lifting of the Hungarian veto, which had lasted for more than two years and required a bilateral agreement between Budapest and Kyiv.
“It is a historic day for Ukraine and for Moldova, and it is a historic day for Europe”, stressed Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, whose country currently holds the Presidency of the EU Council.
“For us, this is a real Rubicon, a crucial stage, a turning point where the accession negotiations are moving towards their conclusion and successful outcome”, predicted Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Taras Kachka, after the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) between the EU and his country.
According to the Moldovan Prime Minister, Alexandru Munteanu, the IGC with his country “shows that accession is not just a dream or yet another politician’s promise. The process has started and is moving forward”. And he added that: “Moldova delivers, the European Union recognises and rewards the progress. This is also a long awaited moment. Moldova has been ready to open this cluster [of chapters] for more than one year”.
The ‘fundamentals’ cluster of chapters concerns the fundamental values and principles on which the EU is based. It includes the Community acquis relating to the rule of law and fundamental rights, the functioning of democratic institutions, public administration reform and the economic criteria. Specifically, these are Chapters 23 - ‘Judiciary and fundamental rights’, 24 - ‘Justice, freedom and security’, 5 - ‘Public procurement’, 18 - ‘Statistics’, and 32 - ‘Financial control’.
“The accession process remains demanding and much work still lies before us (...). The European Union’s enlargement policy is and will remain merit-based. Continued progress will depend on sustained reforms and concrete results”, Marilena Raouna warned.
Thus, according to European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, the Member States have drawn up a list of measures that Ukraine and Moldova must take in order to advance reforms in the Union’s most fundamental areas: an independent judiciary, transparent public procurement and stronger safeguards against corruption and organised crime. In addition, the Commissioner called on Moldovan political parties - government majority and opposition alike - “to come together and drive reforms forward”, and on Moldovan society “to unite and make EU integration a reality that improves the lives of all Moldovans”.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister, Anita Orban, had specified, on her arrival in Luxembourg on Monday morning, that the bilateral agreement between her country and Ukraine on protecting the rights of national minorities had been integrated into the enlargement process. “Thus, if Ukraine does not comply with this agreement, the accession process in each cluster will automatically be suspended”, she had explained. “We know that we have a truly European policy on national minorities, which allows us to pursue our national identity policy and protect national minorities in accordance with the Treaty on European Union”, stressed the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister. He promised that he would continue the dialogue with all of Ukraine’s neighbours, “because we have a daily agenda devoted to minority-related issues with Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, the Slovak Republic and Poland”.
Opening the other chapter clusters before summer. Having waited for more than two years, the candidate countries no longer want to wait to move forward in their accession process. According to Taras Kachka, there is the same unanimity among EU Member States for opening the other clusters of negotiation chapters as there was for the first one.
“We have to move on to the next stage, namely the opening of the six clusters, meaning five more before the summer recess. That means we have to speed up the procedures so as to be ready to open them in July”, the Lithuanian minister, Kęstutis Budrys, had stressed earlier in the day.
While the Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, said she expected the five other clusters to be opened in July, a European source was more circumspect, considering that some Member States might need more time to give their agreement. “The accession process follows two tracks. The first is the technical process, for which my team and I are responsible. The other is the dynamic one within the Member States. Continuous work with the Member States is therefore essential”, Marta Kos acknowledged.
The Estonian minister, Margus Tsahkna, warned against fresh blockages. “We had (Viktor) Orbán who blocked everything but now Orbán is gone. Many have come out from Orbán’s shadow and let’s see whether we have this unity about enlargement”, he stressed.
Reviewing the methodology. Asked by Agence Europe about the restrictions that some Member States are proposing to impose on new Member States, notably regarding voting rights (see EUROPE 13885/20), Marta Kos considered that the Member States were “finally having a discussion” that she had wanted to have “for a long time”.
“If, for some of them, the enlargement process is not suited to the current context, what methodology could we adopt? This discussion is therefore necessary. But the outcome of this discussion is clear: full membership will only be possible when States have met all the required conditions. So there is no partial membership, half-membership or quarter-membership. There is only full membership”, she warned.
According to the Cypriot minister, “the various ideas that are being put on the table (...) is indicative of the fact that there is real momentum, there is real eagerness to progress accession negotiations and have tangible results”. She specified that the ideas should be discussed within the Council, recalling that enlargement had already undergone changes in methodology.
For his part, Alexandru Munteanu recalled that what mattered to his country was having a ‘roadmap’ towards full membership of the European Union. “If it brings some intermediate steps, that’s fine. As long as we see that the final objective of full accession is within reach”, he sought to reassure. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)