Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-12-Speech-3-241"
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"en.20030312.6.3-241"2
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In reply to Mr Dupuis’ question about the western Balkan countries he mentioned, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, their European prospects as possible candidate countries were confirmed at the summit held in Zagreb between the European Union and these countries in November 2000, on the basis of the conclusions of the European Council in Feira on 19 and 20 June 2000. The Copenhagen European Council in December last year recalled the candidacy criteria set by the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993 and reaffirmed the European perspective of the countries of the western Balkans. The Council also underlined its determination to support their efforts to move closer to the European Union and welcomed the decision and the priority set by the Greek Presidency to organise a summit on 21 June in Thessalonika. This summit will be attended by the Member States of the European Union and the countries of the western Balkans. The Greek Presidency’s programme of work on enlargement expressly states that the presidency will continue and step up cooperation with the countries in the region in order to promote their maximum possible integration into European political and economic life. Naturally our aim is to ensure this process helps countries actually acquire the status of candidates for accession to the European Union.
The Council would also remind you that, of these countries, Croatia submitted an accession request on 21 February 2003. The Council is due to evaluate this request shortly so that it can pass it on to the Commission, which will evaluate it in detail and give its opinion before the Council reaches a decision on its candidacy.
This request is, I think, indicative of the region’s interest in moving towards Europe and of the importance which the European Union has acquired. It is, if you like, a magnet for the region, giving us reason to believe that the European Union is an important incentive for the region to carry out the necessary reforms, reforms which are vital to stability in the Balkans.
It goes without saying, therefore, that the summit in Thessalonika will be another milestone in special relations between the European Union and the western Balkans.
As far as the countries of the southern Caucasus are concerned, the European Union and its Member States and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldavia have signed partnership and cooperation agreements. The European Union has promised to help establish the rule of law, economic reform, peace, security and stability in these countries, none of which has as yet submitted an application to join the Union."@en1
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