12 minutes ago5 EU member states with the proposal "confidential" for the integration of the Western Balkans into the union, Euractiv brings details
Periskopi(a month ago)
(a month ago)Five EU countries have asked the European Commission to review the way countries from the Western Balkans include in the bloc's single market, presenting this as a way to keep interested countries out of Russian influence.
“To maintain the enlargement moment and advance European integration, strong and attractive incentives are needed,” writes Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia in a confidential document that was distributed among the 27 EU nations in Brussels last Friday, and reported for the first time by Rapporteur
“Accesses based on credit if necessary, step by step on the single European market constitutes such a incentive,” write these countries, which are part of a informal club that politically supports Western Balkan aspirations for the EU, reports EractivI'll follow the Express.
The countries described the proposed model as <x0 systemic sectoral integration”. It would include expanding the scope of EU programmes where countries like Montenegro, Albania, Northern Macedonia and Serbia could participate, while harmonising, chapter after chapter, with Brussels' fine regulation.
“gradual integration ... should be actively and systematically followed once a candidate demonstrates high level harmonisation with the EU acquis in the current sector,” said in the document. He also adds that security measures should be included if a country that has special access to the EU market is brought back.
The document suggests several new sectors that can be included, such as transport, energy and electricity markets, the single digital market, competition strategies and policies for early critical subjects. He also cites the youth mobility agreement between the UK and the EU as an example of a benefit that can also be offered to Western Balkan countries.
As for ambition, the document fails to meet the ideas proposed by Ferit Hoxha, Albania's Foreign Minister, in an interview for Euractiv last week, where he suggested candidate countries should gain observer status in EU bodies as they close chapters.
Milan Nič, senior researcher at the German Council for Foreign Relations, was not impressed by the contents of the document, saying he did not differ much from previous concepts.
The “looks like a slightly more sophisticated version of the previous push for gradual integration,” he said.
The authors of the document called on Martha Kos, the commissioner for expansion, to come with new ideas on this line.
This approach would expand and strengthen the single market, contributing to the EU's geoeconomic importance and strategic autonomy, as candidates approach and assist in opposing third countries' influence,” is said in the document.
