{"id":367286,"date":"2024-06-05T16:43:50","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T14:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/06\/05\/consiglio-adesione-ue-ucraina-moldova\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T12:20:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T10:20:08","slug":"half-of-eu-countries-push-to-adopt-negotiating-frameworks-with-ukraine-and-moldova-by-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/06\/05\/half-of-eu-countries-push-to-adopt-negotiating-frameworks-with-ukraine-and-moldova-by-june\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of EU countries push to adopt negotiating frameworks with Ukraine and Moldova by June"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – While European parties and politicians are absorbed in campaigning for the elections that will take place tomorrow through Sunday (June 6-9), behind the scenes in Brussels, these are intense days for the future of the Union. June will determine the timing and stages for the EU accession of two new countries<\/strong>, which are currently candidates and have received endorsement from the European Council to begin negotiations. Ukraine and Moldova<\/strong> await the outcome of the talks between the ambassadors of the twenty-seven countries to hope for a green light next June 25 at the General Affairs Council to adopt their respective negotiating frameworks. While there is a reticent (but not immovable) Hungary on one side, there are 12 governments on the other side that have decided to openly support the acceleration of negotiations with a letter<\/strong> sent to the Belgian rotating presidency of the EU Council.<\/p>\n

\"Hadja<\/a>
Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and rotating President of the EU Council, Hadja Lahbib<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The opening of accession negotiations would give additional motivation” to both Kyiv and Chi\u0219in\u0103u, reads the text viewed by Eunews<\/em>, which recalls the
\n“disastrous” <\/a>situation in Ukraine and the “upcoming” presidential election and EU referendum<\/a> in Moldova. Ministers from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden<\/strong> are convinced that “This would boost morale and promote work on reforms in these countries.” \u00a0The request to the Belgian Foreign Minister and Council rotating President, Hadja Lahbib<\/strong>\u2014whose work to advance the enlargement process under her leadership since January 1 is “highly appreciated”\u2014is to adopt the negotiating frameworks at the General Affairs Council “at the latest in June”<\/strong>, with the goal of convening the first intergovernmental conferences “by the end of June 2024.”<\/p>\n

The date marked on the calendar is June 25<\/strong>, when the 27 ministers will meet to decide (unanimously) on the go-ahead for intergovernmental conferences with candidates for accession to the Union. “In light of the achievements and ongoing reform efforts,” the letter further reads, “we believe that the time has come to move forward<\/strong>,” also pushing for “gradual integration into individual EU policies and programs prior to full membership” in the Union. The starting point is the conclusions of the March European Council when the heads of state and government called on the 27 ministers of European affairs to “rapidly adopt” the negotiating framework drafts and “take the process forward without delay”<\/strong>. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel<\/strong>, had confessed<\/a> then that the hope was to “arrive at the first intergovernmental conference under the Belgian presidency<\/strong>” before the handover to Hungary for the six-month leadership of the EU institution (which sets calendars and agenda items for meetings of ministers in the different Council compositions).<\/p>\n

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\"Zelensky<\/a>
From left: the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orb\u00e1n (February 7, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

This is precisely the crux of the 20 days until the General Affairs Council meeting. After the failure to reach an agreement at the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) last Wednesday (May 29) due to the Hungarian objections to Ukraine<\/a>, the issue will return to the table of the ambassadors of the twenty-seven countries on Friday (June 7)<\/strong>. “If the negotiating frameworks are agreed by that date, the presidency plans to hold the intergovernmental conferences for Ukraine and Moldova after the General Affairs Council,” EU sources confirmed at today’s (June 5) meeting where the partial agenda for the June 25 ministers’ meeting was set. Currently, reservations have been lifted from all member countries except Budapest<\/strong> on minority rights in Ukraine, trade, anti-corruption, agriculture, operation of the Single Market and good neighbourly relations.<\/p>\n

The hope is that the government of Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/strong> will be interested in wrapping up the issue of Ukraine’s accession talks before it assumes the rotating presidency of the EU Council from July 1 to avoid having its six-month term punctuated by pressure and controversy in this regard<\/strong> (and given the fact that this is not the last opportunity for Hungary to use its veto power to block Kyiv’s EU membership). After the candidate country status was granted in June 2022 and despite the steady progress recorded by the European Commission over the following year and a half, the Hungarian premier chose the obstructionism<\/a> route to try to prevent the green light for accession negotiations with Kyiv<\/strong>. Only through constant pressure from the EU institutions\u2014and the unblocking\u00a0of about \u20ac10 frozen billion\u00a0<\/a>by the Commission in Budapest\u2014did Orb\u00e1n make a rather unusual and striking gesture at the December 14, 2023, European Council: he left the room at the time of the vote so that the other 26 EU leaders could approve the most eagerly awaited of the summit conclusions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How the EU accession process works<\/h3>\n

The EU enlargement process begins with a non-EU state submitting a formal application for membership<\/strong> to the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Union membership first requires a successful examination of the Copenhagen criteria<\/strong> (established at the European Council in the Danish capital in 1993 and strengthened by the EU leaders’ meeting in Madrid two years later). These criteria are divided into three groups of basic requests <\/a>that the Union addresses to the country that has applied for membership: rule of law and democratic institutions (including respect for human rights and the protection of minorities), stable market economy (ability to cope with market forces and competitive pressure), and fulfilment of its obligations (effectively implementing the body of EU law and meeting the objectives of political, economic and monetary Union).<\/p>\n

Having obtained the favourable opinion of the Commission<\/strong>, it comes to the conferment of candidate country status<\/strong> with the approval of all members of the Union. This is followed by the Commission’s recommendation to the EU Council to open negotiations<\/strong>, which, again, requires the unanimous go-ahead of the member countries: this allows the negotiating chapters<\/strong> (varying in number) to be opened, the purpose of which is to prepare the candidate, particularly on the implementation of the necessary judicial, administrative, and economic reforms. When the negotiations are completed, and the EU enlargement is possible in terms of absorption capacity, this leads to the signing of the Accession Treaty<\/strong> (with terms and conditions for accession, including any safeguard clauses and transitional provisions), which must first be approved unanimously<\/strong> by the European Parliament and the Council.<\/p>\n