The European Commission announced this Friday its positive opinion on the application filed by Ukraine, unanimously endorsing the recommendation to member states to confirm the status of a candidate country for accession to the European Union (EU) at a Council meeting. 23 and 24 June in Brussels.
“The Commission recommends that the European Council give Ukraine a European perspective and grant it the status of an EU candidate country,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, at the end of the European Commission meeting. Panel of Commissioners, which assessed on the merits the applications submitted by Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.
The head of the community also positively assessed Moldova’s request, recommending that the Council of Europe grant it the status of a candidate country. As for Georgia, the positive response was due to Brussels opening up a European perspective but advising to wait with reforms before the country is officially declared a candidate for membership.
This is the first time that the European Commission has opened the doors of the club to a country at war: doubts about the political organization and stability of institutions, or the very demarcation of Ukrainian territory, could lead member states impose certain conditions so that accession negotiations can begin.
In its recommendation, the Commission itself points to several reforms that need to be done to get the application process going. “Ukraine has clearly demonstrated its desire, commitment and desire to live in accordance with European values and standards. We know Ukrainians are ready to die for a European perspective,” Ursula von der Leyen said, calling the Commission’s (geopolitical) decision a “historic political moment” for the country.
“But there is still a lot of work to be done,” insisted the head of the community executive body, mentioning areas in which the Kyiv government absolutely needs to make progress before opening accession negotiations: in the rule of law, in the fight against corruption, and in recognizing the fundamental rights of minorities.
By setting these conditions for the development of the process, the Commission ultimately promoted political consensus in the European Council. None of the 27 member states is expected to deny the “European perspective” that Ukraine has followed since the political revolution on the Maidan in 2014, and will not close the door on the country’s possible entry into the European club. On Thursday in Kyiv, the leaders of the three largest EU countries, Germany, France and Italy, personally confirmed to President Volodymyr Zelensky that they support Ukraine’s integration into the EU.
The visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi dispelled all doubts about a possible split and opposition from the European Council to the recognition of the Ukrainian candidacy. In addition to the important symbolism of the gesture towards Ukraine, the trip of the three European leaders to Kyiv sent a strong message to Moscow: there is no turning back on Ukraine’s European path, and military aggression spoke convincingly of its goal to retake Kyiv. into Russia’s sphere of influence.
The European Commission’s consent to Ukraine’s membership bid was based on a “positive assessment” of the substance of the application, explained Ursula von der Leyen, who referred to the country’s efforts to move closer to the EU. standards Europeans unrelated to the Russian threat. “Over the past eight years, Ukraine has already been gradually moving closer to the Union, having implemented about 70% of the rules, norms and standards of the EU thanks to the Association Agreement signed in 2016,” he said.
The Chairman of the Commission stated that “Ukraine is a strong parliamentary democracy, with a “free and fair electoral system” and a “vibrant and active civil society”, and noted that the country has a “well-functioning public administration” and a “developed education system”. Prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine had a budget deficit of 2% of GDP and public debt of less than 50% and was taking “important steps towards becoming a fully functioning market economy”.
Von der Leyen acknowledged that Russia’s aggressive war is an additional challenge for the Ukrainian authorities, but said many of the problems identified in areas where the country needs improvement are not directly related to the conflict. One of the points that von der Leyen hit the hardest was the fight against corruption, a phenomenon that pushed Ukraine to the bottom of the international tables.
Von der Leyen expressed confidence in the actions of the current government, which “Ukrainians have elected with a promise to fight corruption”, but warned that efforts to ensure the effective functioning of the judiciary, to ensure the functioning of anti-corruption bodies will need to accelerate corruption and to implement the law against oligarchs.
With regard to the country’s ability to implement the reforms called for by Brussels in the face of war, the Chairman of the Commission acknowledged the difficulties. For example, the work of modernizing public administration, which continues despite the war, cannot be completed because part of the human resources is involved in hostilities or has left the country.
The Republic of Moldova may have an easier path to EU integration, although its economy and public administration “need major improvements,” von der Leyen said. “Moldova is taking decisive steps towards reforms, on a pro-European and anti-corruption path. If he stays like this, we believe he has the potential to meet the requirements,” he said.
Georgia, the third former Soviet republic motivated by Putin’s war in Ukraine to apply for EU membership, will have to prove its democratic credentials and “broad political and public support for necessary reforms.” The commission pointed to some “strengths” of its candidacy, “in particular, a market-oriented economy with a strong private sector.” However, the executive branch has advised the European Council to wait until Georgia fulfills a number of conditions before granting it the status of a candidate country.
With the green light of the Council of Europe, Ukraine and Moldova will join group of five countries currently classified as candidates for EU membership: North Macedonia and Albania, which have been waiting for negotiations since 2020; Montenegro and Serbia, which launched rounds of negotiations in 2012 and 2014 respectively; and Turkey, which has been on a waiting list since 1987, with accession talks open since 2005 but no chance of progress on its claims.
Two other countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo (whose self-declared independence in 2008 is not recognized by all EU member states), are included in the process of enlargement into the Western Balkans, although they have not yet received official candidate status. Bosnia and Herzegovina applied for membership in Brussels in February 2016 and received the opinion of the European Commission only in May 2019. The community’s executive director compiled a list of 14 priority reforms that the country had to implement before it was recognized as a candidate.
While Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union is rather brief with regard to club entry criteria – it only states that “any European state that respects the values referred to in Article 2 and is committed to promoting them may apply to join the Union” – the procedures for a country’s accession to the EU are regulated and provide that candidates meet a large number of conditions.
As various European leaders have repeated, it is a long, exhausting and demanding process, during which the candidate must prove compliance with the fundamental principles of democracy and the rule of law of the Union, demonstrate that its economy is competitive in a single market and adapt and bring its entire legal system into line with the so-called acquis communautaire (legislative and regulatory framework of the EU, which has more than 88,000 pages).
After the application is submitted, the first assessment follows, which is highly political, so that the country is designated as an official candidate for accession and the application process can begin: a positive Commission recommendation, the unanimous consent of the European Council and the approval of the European Parliament are required.
Once this first stage has been completed, the candidate country will have access to Community funding through the Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), which supports the political, economic and social reforms that are required of it. The volume of this program in the multi-year financial plan for 2021-2027 is 14.2 billion euros. But in addition to this money, candidate countries can use funds from other Community programs.
It is the Commission that establishes the framework for accession negotiations, which follows the methodology of successive chapters in which the candidate must push forward the necessary reforms to bring them in line with European laws. There are 35 chapters in total, divided into six groups: core principles and values; domestic market; competitiveness and economic growth; green agenda and sustainable communication; resources, agriculture and cohesion; and external relations.
With a population of 41 million and a gross domestic product per capita of less than four thousand euros, Ukraine is the second poorest country in Europe after Moldova. Since the invasion of Russia on February 24, the country’s tax revenues have dropped by more than 80% and GDP has halved. The IMF estimates that Ukraine needs $5 billion a month in financial assistance just to keep the state functioning.
Formal negotiations begin with the holding of the first intergovernmental conference, and there is no deadline for its completion. In the case of Montenegro, negotiations began in 2012, four years after the country was recognized as a candidate for membership. During these ten years, 33 out of 35 chapters were opened, and three of them were temporarily closed (ie the Commission considers that the recommended measures have been successfully implemented). Serbia, which started negotiations in 2014, is further behind in this process, with 22 chapters open and two temporarily closed.
This Friday, Ursula von der Leyen often spoke of the “dynamic nature” of the negotiation process, the outcome of which depends entirely on the will and speed of the candidate countries in implementing the specifications set for accession. “We need to carry out a number of reforms. The process is faster if there is progress, but could stall or even reverse if there are setbacks in these reforms,” he warned.
When all 35 chapters have been satisfactorily completed, the Commission confirms that the country is capable of observing the acquis communautaire and draws up an accession treaty to be ratified by the European Council, the European Parliament and the various chambers of all national parliaments. . . .
Since its founding with the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the European Union has gone through seven enlargement processes and one round of contraction. In 1973, the six founding members of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg were joined by Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Greece joined in 1981, followed by Portugal and Spain in 1986. In 1995 it was the turn of Austria, Finland and Sweden. The great growth of the EU occurred in 2004, when ten new members entered it: Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic. Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007 and Croatia in 2013 after eight years of negotiations.
