20 EU enlargement: Macedonia
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COM(05) 562
| Commission Opinion on the application from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for membership of the European Union
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| Legal base | Article 49 EU; unanimity
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 21 November 2005
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | 16-17 December 2005 European Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared, but further information requested
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Background
20.1 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia presented its application
for membership of the European Union on 22 March 2004. The Council
of Ministers requested the Commission to submit its Opinion on
this application on 17 May 2004, in line with the procedure laid
down in Article 49 EU, which states: "Any European State
which respects the principles set out in Article 6(1) may apply
to become a member of the Union. It shall address its application
to the Council, which shall act unanimously after consulting the
Commission and after receiving the assent of the European Parliament,
which shall act by an absolute majority of its component members".
20.2 Article 6(1) states "The Union is founded
on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles which
are common to the Member States".
20.3 The application is part of the process whereby
the Western Balkan countries are seeking to overcome the political
crisis in their region and orient themselves towards the European
Union. In the "Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans",
adopted by the June 2003 European Council, the EU stressed "that
the pace of further movement of the Western Balkan countries towards
the EU lies in their own hands and will depend on each country's
performance in implementing reforms, thus respecting the criteria
set by the Copenhagen European Council of 1993 and the Stabilisation
and Association Process conditionality".
20.4 Earlier, the European Council in Copenhagen
in June 1993 concluded that: "The associated countries in
Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall become members
of the Union. Accession will take place as soon as a country is
able to assume the obligations of membership by satisfying the
economic and political conditions". Membership requires:
— that
the candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing
democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for and
protection of minorities;
— the existence of a functioning market
economy, as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure
and market forces within the Union; and
— the ability to take on the obligations
of membership, including adherence to the aims of political, economic
and monetary union.
The Union's capacity to absorb new members, while
maintaining the momentum of European integration, is also "an
important consideration in the general interest of both the Union
and the candidate countries" .
20.5 The Stabilisation and Association process (SAp)
conditionalities were defined by the Council on 29 April 1997
and included cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and regional cooperation. They
are thus integrated into the Stabilisation and Association Agreement
(SAA) with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which entered
into force in April 2004.
20.6 The Commission therefore analyses the application
from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the basis of
the country's capacity to meet the "Copenhagen criteria"
and the conditions set for the SAP, as defined by the Council
in its conclusions of 29 April 1997.
Commission Communication
20.7 The method followed in preparing this Opinion
is the same as used in previous Opinions. The Commission has analysed
both the present situation and the medium-term prospects. "For
the purpose of this Opinion and without prejudging any future
date of accession, the medium-term perspective has been defined
as a period of five years. In drawing up its recommendation on
the opening of accession negotiations, the Commission has paid
particular attention to the existing capacity of the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia to meet the political criteria".
20.8 The Opinion is helpfully summarised by the Minister
of State for Europe in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr
Douglas Alexander) in his 21 November 2005 Explanatory Memorandum:
Political Conditions
"The Commission Avis recognises the substantial
progress made by the country in completing the legislative framework
related to the Ohrid Framework Agreement of 2001 (the agreement
which brought to an end the 2001 conflict by addressing ethnic-Albanian
grievances), and concludes that Macedonia has stable, properly
functioning democratic institutions, although there were some
irregularities in the 2005 local elections. It notes that the
rule of law is being gradually consolidated and that there are
no major problems in respect of fundamental rights. But it highlights
the following areas where more effort is needed:
— securing the rule of law over the whole
country;
— reform of the police;
— sustaining the efforts to improve the
independence of the judiciary;
— the fight against corruption;
— the bilateral immunity agreement with
the USA on the International Criminal Court (which is not in line
with EU guiding principles); and
— resolution of the name issue with Greece.
Economic Conditions
"The Commission makes no definitive statement
as to whether Macedonia is a functioning market economy, but does
assess that, whilst there is a broad political consensus on the
essentials of economic policies, the market economy is impeded
by institutional weaknesses. These include slow and cumbersome
administrative procedures, problems with the judiciary, and problems
with land and property registration. The Commission takes the
view that there has been insufficient domestic and foreign investment,
resulting in low growth and deterioration in competitiveness,
and that the considerable informal sector leads to distortions
in the economy. So, it concludes that the Macedonian economy (at
this stage) would face major difficulties in sustaining the competitive
pressures of the single market.
"The Opinion underlines the need for Macedonia
to proceed with structural reforms in order to enhance the functioning
of the market economy and to improve competitiveness.
Ability to Assume the Obligations of Membership
"The Opinion finds that Macedonia has made significant
efforts to align its legislation with the acquis but faces major
challenges in implementing and enforcing EU legislation. Administrative
and judicial capacity will have to be strengthened to achieve
this.
"If it continues its efforts, the Opinion concludes
that Macedonia should not have major difficulties in applying
the acquis in the medium term in the following areas: Fisheries;
Economic and monetary policy; Statistics; Enterprise and industrial
policy; Trans-European networks; Science and research; Education
and culture; External relations; Foreign, security and defence
policy; Financial and budgetary provisions.
"Macedonia will have to make further efforts
to align its legislation with the acquis and to effectively implement
and enforce it in the medium term in the following areas: Freedom
of movement for workers; Rights of establishment and freedom to
provide services; Free movement of capital; Financial services;
Consumer and health protection.
"Macedonia will have to make considerable and
sustained efforts to align its legislation with the acquis and
effectively implement and enforce it in the medium term in the
following areas: Public procurement; Company law; Information
society and media; Agriculture and rural development; Food safety,
veterinary and phytosanitary policy; Transport policy; Energy;
Taxation; Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments;
Justice, freedom and security; Customs union.
"The Opinion concludes that unless efforts are
speeded up considerably, Macedonia might not be able to comply
with the requirements of the acquis in the medium term in the
following areas: Free movement of goods; Intellectual property
law; Competition policy; Financial control.
"Finally, the Opinion states that very significant
efforts (including substantial investment and strengthening administrative
capacity) will be needed for the enforcement of the environment
legislation. Full compliance with the acquis could only be achieved
in the long term following increased levels of investment.
European Commission's Conclusion
"The Commission recommends that the Council
grant Macedonia the status of Candidate country but that accession
negotiations should be opened only once Macedonia has reached
a sufficient level of compliance with the membership criteria.
This is in line with the recent Commission's 2005 enlargement
strategy paper published concurrently with the Avis, which identifies
candidate status as a distinct political step on the way to membership,
separate from the start of accession talks.
"The Commission commits to presenting a report
on Macedonia's progress no later than the end of 2006."
The Government's view
20.9 The Minister says that the Government welcomes
publication of the Avis and, as Presidency, will now chair Council
discussions on the report with the aim of finding a consensus
on whether to accept the Commission's recommendation; if, he says,
previous practice is followed, the Council would respond to the
Avis at the December European Council.
Conclusion
20.10 The brevity of the Minister's comments suggest
that not all Member States are yet ready to accept the Commission
recommendation. We understand that, in present circumstances,
he may therefore have preferred not to indicate what the Government's
views are, though we assume from its general stance on enlargement
and overall policy towards the western Balkans that it is among
those in favour. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the right of the
House to know what those views are.
20.11 That said, we have no questions on the proposal
and have no wish to hold up the process, particularly as the Commission
makes plain the many substantial obstacles that will need to be
overcome before the opening of accession negotiations, several
of which have a familiar ring, particularly in relation to the
rule of law, and all of which will be subject to regular review.
Underlying everything is the substantial challenge of making the
political settlement work. We can but hope that the end-2006 review
will show measurable progress, since it is this that will determine
Macedonia's further integration into European structures.
20.12 We clear the document, but ask that the
Minister writes, ahead of the next General Affairs and External
Relations Council meeting, to let us know the outcome of the further
discussions to which he refers, and what the Government's view
is.
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