Brussels, 20/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - On 18 February, the Council adopted updated “partnerships for accession” for Turkey and the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (Fyrom). The same document was adopted last week for the third accession candidate country, Croatia (see EUROPE 9597 for the details). The partnerships for accession, which are updated every two or three years, lay down the short-and medium-term priorities to be followed by the candidate countries if they hope to complete their preparations for accession. The main priorities for Turkey were presented in our bulletin 9593.
On 18 February, the Council also approved the revised “European partnerships” for various countries of the western Balkans: Serbia, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. These countries do not yet have the status of accession candidate country, but as members of the stabilisation and association process, they all have the possibility of joining the EU one day. The European partnerships are the equivalent, for them, of the accession partnerships for the candidate countries: they define and update the priorities to be pursued in terms of political and economic reforms, in order to move forward the process of European integration. (H.B.)