Debate: years of Copenhagen criteria - giving further impetus to EU enlargement policy
Date: WEDNESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Dubravka Šuica
Language: EN

The question was: has Ukraine received special treatment due to the war? Ukraine accession process is merit-based. Ukraine has gone through the regular steps that each country who wishes to join the European Union needs to take. Since the granting of candidature status, the European Commission has published its analytical report on Ukraine’s preparations for EU accession in February 2023, and it has updated Member States on progress towards meeting the seven steps of the Commission Opinion, and Ukraine has been included in the Enlargement Package for the first time this year, alongside with Moldova and Georgia. As such, no special treatment has been given to Ukraine in the enlargement process. Despite Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine made significant progress in the implementation of the seven steps since the European Council of June last year. Ukraine has established a transparent pre-selection system for the Constitutional Court judges and reformed the judicial governance bodies. Ukraine has ensured the appointment of independent heads of the anti-corruption agencies, and has built a credible track record of high-level corruption investigations and convictions. To sustain these efforts, Ukraine took additional measures, such as the implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Programme and the restoration of the electronic asset declaration system, also with some shortcomings. Ukraine has also advanced on the alignment of its Anti-Money-Laundering Framework with the Financial Action Task Force Centres. It has adopted a comprehensive strategic plan for the reform of the law-enforcement sector. It has stepped up systematic measures against oligarchs in such areas as competition and political-party funding, and agreed to revise an anti-oligarch law to bring it in line with European law or European rule of law standards. Ukraine has aligned its media law with European Union law, and continued to strengthen the protection of national minorities by amending the laws on minorities, and the laws on education, and taking measures to implement them – just to mention a few. On Bosnia and Herzegovina, to colleague Željana Zovko, once again, we have to reiterate this: the Commission has recommended the opening negotiations once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved. President von der Leyen was clear: the Commission is opening wide the door to European Union membership and inviting Bosnia and Herzegovina to walk the walk through it, including by showing results on addressing the Opinion key priorities. The enlargement process remains merit-based, and we expect Bosnia and Herzegovina to deliver. The Council will discuss the conclusions on enlargement by December, and the Commission will report on progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the latest by March 2024. This is very important. So, if someone asks what necessary degree of compliance means, we said that the door is left open for – this concerns the requirement for membership – Copenhagen political criteria, the same formula used in the 2019 Opinion on the membership application, when the Commission identified 14 key priorities on the political criteria. So, by March 2024, we will be ready to assess again Bosnia and Herzegovina’s achievements. As evidenced by Enlargement Package published only a few days ago, 2023 has been an eventful year for enlargement. We are indeed celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Copenhagen criteria. But 2023 also marks 20 years since the Thessaloniki summit, and the first unequivocal confirmation of the European perspective for all Western Balkan countries, and also 10 years since the last enlargement to Croatia, my own country. More than ever, it is time to seize the momentum and make swift progress. I look forward to cooperating closely with our partners on meeting the Copenhagen criteria and working towards an enlarged Union. The European project is not complete without our partners from the Western Balkans and the East. The Copenhagen criteria will continue to guide us on this journey towards an enlarged European Union. Maintaining the current dynamic around enlargement is essential, and we count on that.