Requests an “immediate” response to a complex process that takes years, regulated in the Treaties, and that divides the partners
The photograph with the moment of the signature, that of an official document, and a phrase with a certain epic packaging surrounding both images. “This is a historic moment.” Everything was encapsulated in an urgent message spread through Twitter by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament). It would then be reinforced with television images. This is how Ukraine was made known to the world on Monday that it had taken the first step towards joining the European Union. President Volodimir Zelenski, accompanied by the head of the legislature and the prime minister, all in campaign clothing, signed the formal request that opens a long and complex procedure that involves all the community institutions. And with an uneven receptivity among the Twenty-seven.
Part by part. The EU rules contemplate that the presidency of the Council -at the moment France- is the addressee of the request. It is up to her to request a report from the European Commission so that it “assesses the applicant’s ability to meet the Copenhagen criteria.” If the Brussels opinion is favourable, the Council must approve a negotiating mandate. Which means that the entire club must give its ‘ok’ to the start of some conversations that take place chapter by chapter.
THE KEY:
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Five in ‘pre-accession’.
Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey (since 1987) are waiting
And that the EU itself admits “they have been around for a long time.” Indeterminate. Years. Although yes, a pre-accession period is established during which the candidate countries are offered financial, administrative and technical assistance. The point is that dozens of pages are ripped out of the calendars. And just ask Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, which are in the process of incorporating Community legislation into their legal systems.
overall jam
The progress of this process is irregular depending on the case. But the jam is general. Albania and North Macedonia, for example, face the blockade of Bulgaria, a full partner. And with Turkey the freeze is undeniable. He has been waiting since 1987. To those mentioned, there is also a very closed list of ‘potential candidates’ (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo). These are in an even more incipient phase.
The Treaties set the pace. And emergencies do not go with them. But there is another crucial clue: “There are different opinions” among the Twenty-Seven. This is how the evidence was certified by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
Already last weekend, the Belgian dodged Zelenski’s repeated request for membership in a telephone conversation between the two politicians. “Ukraine has been asking for it for a long time. But there are different opinions and sensitivities within the European Union about enlargement (not specifically about Ukraine) », he stressed on Monday. As a counterweight to skepticism, Charles Michel put on the table the “very powerful association agreement” with Ukraine and the possibility of “strengthening” it.
The EU has activated a free association agreement with this Eastern country since September 1, 2017; a fundamentally economic pact that was extended in October of last year with other agreements such as the one linked to civil aviation that offers “new commercial opportunities”; and adherence to different pan-European innovation, research or training programmes. The latest official data provided by the Community Executive -excluding the aid launched in the last few hours, such as a line of 450 million euros to finance the supply of war material- specify the money mobilized in loans and subsidies since 2014.
Before signing the document that the Ukrainian authorities define as a formal request, Zelenski had broadcast a message to the nation in which he demanded Ukraine’s “immediate” entry into the EU through what he defined as a “special process.” “Our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing,” he said in relation to that process. “I am sure that this is fair, that we deserve it and that it is possible,” he added.
Von der Leyen’s ‘formula’
By then, some statements had been made to the Euronews network by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von Der Leyen, in which she was betting on a kind of singular status. The packaging was one of commitment and complicity with the Ukrainian people: «There are many issues on which we work very closely together and, over time, they belong to us. They are one of ours and we want them with us », she remarked.
But he pointed to a much more imprecise formula, that of “integrating the Ukrainian market into the single market.” There is, in fact, “close cooperation on energy,” he added. Hours later, a community spokesman qualified those words by recalling what had already been pointed out: the “procedure” is marked by “the Treaties.”
So it is one thing for the EU to go out of its way to assist a country that is suffering military aggression and quite another to skip steps in an extremely complex procedure that conditions the very essence and operation of the entire European Union. “It is not a capricious process that can be done by political decision,” recalled the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares in an interview with RNE.
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