Brussels, 24/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - The EU27 hope to open membership talks with Skopje as soon as possible, but have not yet set a deadline. Manuel Lobo Antunes, speaking after the Stabilisation and Association Council with FYROM, held on Tuesday 24 July in Brussels, said “we noted the FYROM's strong commitment to taking reform forward in order to meet the conditions for opening membership talks as swiftly as possible”. The Commission's annual progress reports, to be published in November, will take account of progress made in the context of the stabilisation and association process and more generally the country's progress on the road to EU membership, added the Portuguese secretary of state for European affairs, without committing himself.
“We are ready” and “half of the conditions have been met”, said Antonio Milososki, the Macedonian foreign minister, hoping that the efforts made by Skopje will allow the Commission to recommend opening membership talks “this year”. “There is real commitment on Macedonia's part to continue with reform, but there is still a great deal of work to be done”, Mr Lobo Antunes noted, leaving it up to the next Commission assessment to decide. He thus pointed out that it is “not only political criteria” (such as the lack of dialogue with the opposition) but also economic criteria relating to institutions that have to be looked at for beginning member talks. Without wishing to make any predictions, Jan Truszczynski, the deputy director general at the Commission's DG for Enlargement, pointed out that “all will depend on how reform moves forward on the ground”.
The Council also welcomed the agreements reached on visa facilitation and re-entry, and Mr Milososki said that FYROM was ready to begin work with the Commission to develop, from next year on, a common roadmap leading to complete liberalisation of visas. (ab)