Speech by EU Commissioner Rehn - Making the European Perspective real in the Balkans

Summary: Speech by EU Commissioner Rehn - Making the European Perspective real in the Balkans (8 December 2005: Brussels)

Keynote address at the Conference 'Bringing the Balkans into Mainstream Europe' by Friends of Europe by Mr Olli Rehn, Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enlargement, Brussels

Making the European Perspective real in the Balkans

I am pleased to be here today to open this conference. Friends of Europe and its partners have put together an excellent set of panels to discuss the key issues facing the region.

We are at a critical moment for the region, with the start of the process to determine the future status of Kosovo. Now is the moment to make the European perspective of the Balkans real to the people of the region. I hope that by the end of this year, the EU will have taken a step forward with each country. Every one of these steps has to be justified on the basis of the progress each country has made, but each step shows the people of the region that these reforms bring results.

Transforming the region through the European perspective

Enlargement is one of the EU's most powerful policy tools. The pull of the EU has helped transform Central and Eastern Europe from communist regimes to modern, well-functioning democracies. More recently, it has inspired tremendous reforms in Turkey, Croatia and the Western Balkans. All European citizens benefit from having neighbours that are stable democracies and prosperous market economies. It is vitally important for the EU to ensure a carefully managed accession process that extends peace, stability, prosperity, democracy, human rights and the rule of law across Europe.

Now enlargement policy needs to demonstrate its power of transformation in a region where states are weak and societies divided. A convincing political perspective for eventual integration into the EU is crucial to keep their reforms on track. But it is equally clear that these countries can join only once they have met the criteria in full.

My approach to enlargement is based on consolidation, conditionality and communication. We will stand by the commitments we have made, once the countries fulfil the strict conditions for accession. The countries have to respect the criteria to the letter. But the conditionality only works if the countries can trust in the EU's commitment to eventual membership, even if that is many years away.

We have to communicate better the objectives and challenges of the accession process and how it deals with the countries. The Commission's Strategy Paper on enlargement, agreed on 9 November, aims to do that by providing a road-map for the Balkans which spells out all the stages on the road to accession and the conditions attached to each stage. It takes into consideration the concerns that EU citizens are voicing - particularly the need for a transparent, fair and objective accession process.

However, the Member States must also bear their responsibility to explain and defend the policies they have agreed unanimously. The Commission can only complement their effort.

Candidate status for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

On Monday, the Council will consider the Commission's Opinion on the application for membership made by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. I encourage the Member States to endorse the Commission's fair and objective assessment of the country's strengths and weaknesses.

The assessment on the economy and on the acquis give grounds for our conclusion that the country is not ready to start accession negotiations.

However, the section on the political criteria reports the remarkable success of the country in implementing the Ohrid Framework Agreement. Only a few years after being on the brink of civil war, the country is a stable democracy. It is also the only functioning multi-ethnic state in the Balkans, which is an important signal to the other countries that such a multi-ethnic model can work. Moreover, the country is demonstrating a real political will to tackle the priorities set by the EU in all areas.

It is therefore appropriate to recognise this considerable achievement with candidate status. At the same time, the Commission is not rushing ahead to recommend accession negotiations before any country is ready. We will monitor the country's progress in annual reports over the years ahead.

I would like to explain the implications of candidate status, which have sometimes been misunderstood. Candidate status does not lead automatically to accession negotiations, and the Council has to make a separate decision on starting negotiations. Moreover, this status does not have budgetary implications in the case of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Finally, the Commission has stated clearly that countries must establish a track-record in implementing their SAA obligations before a membership application can be considered. This is an important message for other countries in the region.

Next steps for the Western Balkans

2006 will be a crucial year for the Balkans. The process to determine Kosovo's future status is now underway, and the EU has to mobilise all its resources - on both the Commission and Council sides - to ensure stability during the process, and a sustainable settlement at the end of it.

We also have to support the status process by making the European perspective real to the rest of the region. The Commission is working with the forthcoming Austrian and Finnish Presidencies on further steps to promote greater economic and political integration in the region, and to show the citizens of the region that there are clear benefits along the way towards the EU. I hope that the Austrian Presidency will succeed in its aim to reinforce the relationship between the EU and the region and promote the region's economic development through a series of initiatives, including the EU-Western Balkans Forum.

The Western Balkans remains a key EU responsibility, and the state of that region is critical to the security and welfare of our own citizens. The European Council has confirmed many times that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the EU. The Thessaloniki European Council in 2003 set the EU's goal for the Western Balkan countries to move from stabilisation and reconstruction to sustainable development, association and integration into European structures.

The first part of the Thessaloniki agenda is now close to completion. I hope that by the end of next year, all of the countries of the region will have established solid contractual relations with the EU, based on association agreements. This will be a major achievement for the region, and particularly for the countries whose progress has been delayed by unresolved status issues and other problems, notably Serbia and Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Stabilisation and Association Agreements will carry important benefits for the citizens of the region. They will allow an expansion of trade with the EU, in turn attracting investment. As companies seek to expand their activities in response to the removal of obstacles to the movement of goods, that will create jobs. Citizens will also see more high-quality goods in the shops at better prices, and enjoy better consumer protection. In addition to the economic side, the people of the region will benefit from wide-ranging cooperation with the EU in many policy areas where there are serious problems - for example, to tackle organised crime and trafficking across borders, as well as to improve environmental standards.

The prospect of moving to the next stage in relations with the Union is a powerful incentive for countries to transform themselves and to adopt EU standards and values. The journey towards membership has value in itself, even in cases where accession is many years away. This journey is often difficult, so it is essential for the EU to stay engaged throughout the process, and committed to the outcome.

Conclusion

The attraction of the European perspective is the EU's most important tool to keep the region stable during the Kosovo status process, which will challenge the stability we have achieved so far. We must encourage the people of the region to look forward to their European future, rather than backwards to the nationalism of the past.

At the same time, we must ensure that their expectations are realistic. The efforts of the reformers could easily be frustrated by a series of false hopes and broken promises. The Balkans have a long road to Europe, and some of them are many years from membership. In the debate on enlargement in the EU, we should not exaggerate the likely speed of the next accessions, because they will be slower than in the past. But the prospect of accession must remain real.

By the time of accession, the countries of the region will be transformed into the kind of neighbours we would like to have - stable, secure, well governed and prosperous. They will not be perfect - because no country ever is - but they will be fully part of mainstream Europe.

That is a worthy goal, and I wish you all the best in your discussions of how to achieve it.

Ref: SP05-320EN
EU source: European Commission
UN forum:
Date: 8/12/2005

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