European Parliament: EU hopefuls must continue reforms

27/11/2009

A new draft document says "full and rigorous" compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is "imperative" for potential EU member states.

(Zaman - 27/11/09; European Parliament, Europolitics, MIA, B92 - 26/11/09)

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn asked that EU doors remain open for the Western Balkan countries, Turkey and Iceland. [Getty Images]

While reaffirming its support for further EU expansion, the European Parliament (EP) said on Thursday (November 26th) that countries aspiring to membership in the Union must continue reforms to be able to join the 27-nation bloc.

Enlargement "has proved to be one of the most successful of all EU policies and has benefited both existing and new member states", the EP said in a resolution on the European Commission's (EC) 2009 enlargement strategy.

But the document drafted by Gabriele Albertini, the head of the legislature's foreign affairs committee, also stressed that "full and rigorous compliance" with the Copenhagen criteria for membership is "imperative" for both the applicant, as well as the EU member states.

Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey are official EU candidates, while Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia are currently considered potential candidates. Iceland, which submitted its application for membership earlier this year, is likely to gain recognition as an official candidate in the near future, given its well-established democratic tradition and high level of alignment with EU legislation.

The EP welcomed efforts made by the Western Balkan nations and Turkey in implementing reforms aimed at strengthening the rule of law there. But "some countries continue to face major challenges, particularly in the fight against corruption and organised crime," it said, noting the need for further strong efforts.

EU lawmakers also called for an improvement of the situation confronting minority ethnic groups in the region and voiced concern that freedom of expression "is not yet fully respected" in some of the candidate and potential candidate countries.

The EP "considers it to be a priority for the Western Balkans and Turkey to ensure the freedom of media from political interference and to guarantee the independence of the regulatory bodies", the resolution said.

It also reminded the Western Balkan countries that full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) remains a key requirement for their accession progress.

The document further stressed that countries that have open disagreements with neighbours must make every effort to settle them on their own as early on in the enlargement process as possible. If they fail to do so, Brussels should do all it can to bring about a solution.

"While such disputes should not, in themselves, constitute an obstacle to progress towards accession, the EU should avoid being encumbered by such outstanding bilateral disputes and should endeavour to resolve them before accession," the EP noted.

The resolution further urged the EU to ratify its Interim Agreement with Serbia without delay and welcomed Belgrade's further progress in its co-operation with the ICTY. But lawmakers also voiced regret the Serbian authorities' actions in calling on Kosovo Serbs to boycott the mid-November elections. Serbia is also asked to step up its co-operation with the EU rule of law mission EULEX, especially in northern Kosovo.

The EP also acknowledged progress made by Albania and Montenegro and urged them to continue implementing the EU required reforms. They said BiH had made some progress in the area of security and border management, but voiced discontent with the country's "limited progress" as a potential candidate country. The lawmakers also expressed their "growing concern over the unstable political climate and the lack of a common vision shared by both entities" and condemned the use of inflammatory language by the country's politicians.