Brussels, 26/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - The Irish “no” vote on the Lisbon Treaty and the stop on enlargement policy decreed by France, Germany and Luxembourg if the new EU treaty does not enter into force (EUROPE 9687) had no substantial impact on the report by Elmar Brok (EPP-ED, Germany) on the EU enlargement strategy adopted by the European Parliament committee on foreign affairs on 24 June. As envisaged in the draft report drawn up long before the Irish referendum, the MEPs reiterate the prospects for accession of the three current candidate countries (Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and the other Balkan countries: Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. At the same time they stress the need for “complete and rigorous” respect for all the Copenhagen criteria, with particular emphasis placed on the EU's “capacity for integration”. In general terms, the EU27's enlargement strategy should reflect a “balance” between Europe's geostrategic interests, the impact of political developments around the EU and its own absorption capacities, MEPs say. In practice, this means that the accession countries should be able to enhance - not diminish - the EU's capacity to achieve its “political integration project”, the MEPs insist. The budgetary implications of future enlargements should be dealt with at the mid-term review of the financial perspectives 2007-2013, the members of the EP committee on foreign affairs believe. Any future enlargement should also be followed by a period of “consolidation” allowing stock to be taken of the various Community policies and ensure that they are still in line with “citizens' expectations”, the Brok report says.
Alluding to Cyprus (without naming it specifically), the MEPs also believe that accession countries should “attempt” to resolve their internal political problems, particularly territorial or constitutional issues, before being able to join the EU. Citizens' support for enlargement policy is crucial, MEPs stress. To this end, future accessions should go hand-in-hand with a “coordinated communication policy” to inform citizens of the “political, economic, social and cultural benefits of enlargement”. This communication policy should include all the Community institutions and the governments of all the Member States. The latter have a particular responsibility in this area, the MEPs say.
The Brok report also says that there is a gulf between the enlargement policy (which aims towards accession) and the European neighbourhood policy (ENP, which makes no mention of accession) and calls for new forms of relations and cooperation to bridge this gap. Strengthening the ENP towards the South (through the Union for the Mediterranean) and the East (the Swedish/Polish proposal for an “eastern partnership” approved last week in the European Council, EUROPE 9687) is certainly a step in the right direction but it is not enough, the MEPs say.
Considering that accession cannot be the sole solution for all third countries aspiring to European integration in the medium or long term, the members of the committee on foreign affairs propose that the EU offer neighbouring countries a greater variety of possible contractual relations. These various levels of contractual relations could be structured in the form of “mutually permeable concentric circles”, leaving neighbouring countries the choice of circle which suits them best with the possibility to move from one to another (albeit with strict criteria).
MEPs also suggest offering some eastern European countries which have no prospects of accession but which already respect certain democratic and economic criteria (the report does not mention these countries, but Mr Brok is thinking in particular of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia) the creation of an “area based on common policies, covering the rule of law, democracy and human rights, the CFSP, economic and financial cooperation, trade, energy, transport, the environment, justice, security, migration, visa policy and education”. These “common policies” should help these countries align with European standards and thereby open the way to coming closer to the EU. The MEPs also demand that the EU develop an overall strategy with regard to the Black Sea, with the possibility of creating a “Union for the Black Sea” which would also include Turkey and Russia. (H.B.)