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Newsletter
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Accession talks open with Reykjavik |
Iceland formally opened its accession negotiations with the European Union on 27 July when a delegation led by the country’s Foreign Minister Össur Skarphédinsson took part in an intergovernmental conference in Brussels, chaired by Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere.
“This is quite a historic day for Iceland as well as the European Union,” said Skarphédinsson.
“The benefits I see for Iceland of joining the Union are quite clear,” he continued. “We seek the right to sit at the family table where decisions are made that affect our future. We seek the security of a strong, international currency. We seek foreign investments. We seek an environment of stable, lasting growth that is conducive to the development of hi-tech industries that already contribute 25 percent of our export earnings. Not least, we seek the long-term security a small nation, that neither has nor intends to have a military, would find by belonging to a strong European family.”
The next step will be for the Commission to begin a detailed examination, together with Iceland, of each of the 33 negotiating chapters, in order to assess the country’s readiness to begin talks in each policy area. This ‘screening’ is expected to begin in November and to conclude by next summer.
However, Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle said he did not exclude that actual negotiations on some chapters could begin before the overall screening process had been concluded.
Iceland is well-placed to move forward quickly with negotiations in certain policy areas, thanks to its membership of the European Economic Area and the Schengen Area. But on other subjects, talks are likely to be more protracted, Füle said, citing fisheries, agriculture and rural development, environment, food safety, free movement of capital and financial services. These issues would need to be addressed in a spirit of openness, transparency and dialogue, he added.
Füle also expressed his concern at the current lack of broad public support for accession in Iceland, which he said showed the need for more objective information about the EU and its policies. “Any decision should be based on facts and figures and not on myth and fears,” he said.
Once Iceland’s membership talks are completed, the country will need to change its constitution – a process that must be carried out by two successive parliamentary legislatures – as well as hold a referendum on the agreed terms of accession.
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Iceland can now benefit from pre-accession funding |
With the entry into force on 14 July of the amended regulation on the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), Iceland is now eligible to receive financial assistance from the EU on the same basis as other candidates for EU membership.
Funding will be made available to support Iceland in its efforts to align its legislation with the EU acquis, the full body of EU law. Programmes will be likely to focus on areas such as statistics and preparation for participation in EU agencies. Iceland will also benefit from technical assistance with preparation for EU membership, in the form of workshops, study visits and expert missions.
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Croatia closes a further two negotiating chapters |
Zagreb succeeded in provisionally closing two more chapters in its accession negotiations on 27 July. The accession conference with Croatia, which took place at deputy level, was chaired by Jean de Ruyt, Belgium’s permanent representative to the EU. At the meeting it was agreed to close chapters 12 (food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy) and 32 (financial control).
The EU stressed that it would monitor closely all specific issues mentioned in its common positions on these chapters and would return to them at a later stage if this proved necessary.
The closure of the two chapters brings to 22 the number of policy areas in which accession negotiations have been provisionally concluded, while talks continue on a further 11.
Michael Leigh, the Director General for Enlargement who represented the Commission at the meeting, noted that several difficult chapters – such as those with financial implications and those on competition and judiciary and fundamental rights – were to be dealt with in the coming months. It was in Croatia's own hands to set the pace of the negotiations by fulfilling the outstanding benchmarks on time, Leigh said.
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EU – the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia SA Council meets |
The seventh meeting of the EU – the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Stabilisation and Association (SA) Council took place on 27 July, chaired by the Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere in collaboration with Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle. The candidate country was represented by Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki.
The SA Council reviewed key developments over the previous year related to the fulfilment of the political and economic criteria for EU accession. Following a noticeable slowdown in reform efforts in the first half of 2010, Commissioner Füle has in the past month raised the Commission's concerns at the highest level and set a process in motion to regain reform momentum in Skopje. The SA Council noted some initial progress in this regard.
The EU said the best way to enhance the political climate in the country was to fully implement the law on parliament, to adopt the new rules of procedure and to resume formal meetings between the coordinators of political groups. It reiterated the importance of ensuring constructive dialogue between political forces to achieve the sustainable implementation of key reforms and of the Ohrid framework agreement, the 2001 peace deal between the political representatives from the two biggest ethnic communities.
The SA Council also agreed that the country has continued to move closer to becoming a functioning market economy, with privatisation largely completed and price and trade liberalisation for the most part accomplished. It was stressed that in the current economic climate, resource efficiency should be maximised and public investment targeted at areas where it could add most value, such as increasing productive capacity.
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Ashton, Füle mark 15th anniversary of Srebrenica |
Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton issued a statement to mark the 15th anniversary of the Srebrenica killings on 11 July.
“On this solemn day, which marks the 15th commemoration of the massacre at Srebrenica, the European Union pays homage to the victims and extends its condolences to those they left behind. The horrific crimes committed are a stain on the values, principles and fundamental rights that Europe stands for, and on our shared humanity,” the statement read.
“Srebrenica is today a silent memorial to something that should have never happened and must never happen again,” it continued. “For the survivors of Srebrenica, their pain and their grief will remain till the end of their days. Remembrance brings consolation at best. But reconciling for the future is a promise that we must pursue for the next generation. It depends on justice being served. Full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia remains both urgent and essential.”
Concluding on a forward-looking note, Ashton and Füle stressed that “gradual reconciliation can open new ways. This is what the European Union wants for the survivors of Srebrenica – and for all the citizens of the Western Balkans. Justice for the victims pursued through the courts and a better European future for all, ensuring peace and stability and the rule of law.”
On 11 July 1995, units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of General Ratko Mladic killed thousands of male Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) at Srebrenica, in what was the worst mass murder in Europe since World War II.
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Kosovo's* independence declaration was not illegal, ICJ rules |
The International Court of Justice in The Hague delivered an advisory opinion on 22 July in which it concluded that the 2008 declaration of independence by Kosovo did not infringe international law.
High Representative Catherine Ashton welcomed the ruling on behalf of the EU, saying the Union was “studying it with great care”.
The advisory opinion opened a new phase, Ashton continued. “The focus should now be on the future. The future of Serbia lies in the European Union. The future of Kosovo lies in the European Union,” she said.
“Good neighbourly relations, regional cooperation and dialogue are the foundations on which the EU is built. The EU is therefore ready to facilitate a process of dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. This dialogue would be to promote cooperation, achieve progress on the path to Europe and improve the lives of the people. The process of dialogue in itself would be a factor for peace, security and stability in the region," Ashton concluded.
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EU stresses commitment to Turkey |
High Representative Catherine Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to Turkey at a high-level political dialogue in Istanbul on 13 July. Ankara was represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis.
"The political dialogue provides for a timely confirmation of Turkey's perspective of EU membership and the continuation of the enlargement process,” said Füle. “I hope that more chapters can be opened this year, if Turkey meets the necessary conditions. Of course the engine of the whole process are the reforms taking place in Turkey. The Commission will continue to support Turkey in carrying out these reforms."
Noting Turkey’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, Ashton said: “We welcome the increasingly important role of Turkey in the region. In this context we will also look at the ways in which the EU and Turkey can enhance cooperation."
The meeting was part of a regular series of twice-yearly encounters between the EU and Turkey at ministerial level.
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Second Steering Committee of the Western Balkans Investment Framework meets in Prague |
The second Steering Committee (SC) of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) met in Prague at the end of June. The meeting gathered more than 70 participants representing the donors to the European Western Balkans Joint Fund (EWBJF), the beneficiaries represented by the National IPA Coordinators (NIPAC), the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), the European Commission and multiple regional organisations.
Out of 55 projects submitted by the beneficiaries 13 have been approved for grant support by the SC. More than 13 million Euro have been allocated to 13 projects such as: a detailed design for the Tirana-Durres Railway Section, the feasibility study and the environmental impact assessment of the construction of regional landfills in Plijevlja and Zablijak in Montenegro or a feasibility study for the interconnection of a gas transmission pipeline between Bulgaria and Serbia.
The WBIF contains a pipeline of 78 projects under implementation, representing an estimated total amount of investment of 6.6 billion Euros supported by nearly 140 million Euros of grants from the EU, the donors and the IFIs. Donors, EU and IFIs committed themselves during the meeting to invest more financial resources in the WBIF in 2011.
The SC provided also the opportunity to enhance further the coordination between donors, the EU and the beneficiaries. Strategies to support strong and sustainable socio-economic development for the Western Balkan region were shared. IFIs and the EU presented their activities and perspectives. A Sector approach has been initiated in the environmental and energy efficiency sectors.
* Under UNSCR 1244/99