English
Just ahead of the EU summit in the Montenegrin city of Tivat, which is attended by the Balkan leaders, France and Germany proposed gradual integration of the Balkan countries. The proposal will be put before the EU leaders tomorrow.
According to Euronews, which broke the story, the new model of integration will simplify the process of enlargement.
This shows a real willingness from member states and candidates to achieve this enlargement, said European Council President Antonio Costa, who spoke with Euronews. Costa went on a tour of the Balkans before the summit, and met with Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in Skopje on Tuesday. Mickoski will attend the summit in Tivat.
The new model will remove overformalised procedures in the enlargement process, simplify the methodology, merge steps and allow progress in various chapters of association when it is recommended by the European Commission and approved by the EU member states. The rule of unanimity, which was often used against Macedonia in the past, will continue to be in place.
According to the French-German paper, candidate countries will be given pre-accession strategies built for them and will have strong incentives to pursue reforms.
The announcement comes amid rumors that the EU is preparing a model of integration of the Balkan countries without giving them veto power – to avoid further abuse of the unanimity, or even voting rights, but giving the countries full access to the EU market and to EU’s various funding structures. This idea was already endorsed by the two largest Balkan candidate countries Albania and Serbia.