Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-13-Speech-3-233"
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Council pays constant and close attention to relations between the Western Balkans and the European Union, which, moreover, remains strongly committed to stabilisation and association for this neighbouring region. Under the European Security Strategy, this region is a high priority for the European Union, as is evidenced by, among other things, in addition to civilian aspects, the EU’s police and military presence in the Western Balkans.
As for Serbia and Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council is due to give its opinion during the first half of this year, among other things on the advisability of negotiating a stabilisation and association agreement. Negotiations on such an agreement are continuing with Albania, and later in the year the Council will have to turn its attention, on the basis of the Commission’s opinion, to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s application for accession. As for Kosovo, mid-2005 will provide the first opportunity for a review of the progress achieved regarding effective compliance with the standards laid down by the UN. Progress towards a process aimed at settling the future status of Kosovo by means of dialogue and cooperation between all the parties concerned will be conditional upon a positive outcome of that review. Finally, with regard to Croatia, the intergovernmental conference on the accession negotiations will be convened by a joint agreement as soon as the Council has confirmed – and I hope it will do so soon – that Croatia is cooperating fully with the Hague Tribunal.
This unreserved cooperation with the Tribunal is an inescapable requirement for all the countries of the Western Balkans. We can say that real progress has been made in recent months, but more progress is needed.
The European Union’s initiatives in promoting the regional integration of the Western Balkans, particularly as regards infrastructure, education, the return of refugees, the fight against organised crime, and cultural exchanges, really are essential here.
Regional cooperation encouraging the economic integration of the region is an important tool in promoting reconciliation, encouraging reform and, above all, improving the economic and social situation in this region. In certain parts of the Western Balkans there is endemic unemployment, which has reached record levels and is largely due to a lack of private investment. This is one of the principal factors not only of social instability but of political instability too. Consequently the Council attaches special importance to the promotion of regional cooperation, which is a key element in the stabilisation and association partnership. In its review of this process in May 2004, the Council welcomed the substantial improvements it found regarding regional cooperation, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, trade and energy.
Assistance projects in the areas mentioned in the question are being implemented by the Commission under the CARDS programme and, particularly in Croatia, via the pre-accession instruments, which are particularly important from this point of view. Thus the objective of the CARDS Regulation is, among other things, to implement reconstruction projects, to provide aid for the return of refugees and the stabilisation of the region, and also to encourage regional cooperation. At the present time, discussions are in progress in the Council on the new financial instrument for pre-accession aid proposed by the Commission. With effect from 2007, that instrument is to be the framework for EU assistance to candidate countries and potential candidate countries, which include the Western Balkans.
The future of this region lies in the European Union. The Thessaloniki Summit of 21 June 2003 clearly emphasised the European vocation of the Western Balkans. Though the Union’s commitment to the Western Balkans is not open to doubt, it is up to the countries in that region to make good use of it. The countries in question must demonstrate, by specific policies and actions, their willingness and their capacity to become candidates, when the time is right, for accession to the European Union, with a view to joining it as members one day. The Union will continue to give them active support in their efforts to bring about political and institutional reform. That will no doubt require perseverance and a firm commitment on both sides because there are still considerable challenges to be met.
Nonetheless, they can be met and mastered, because it is in the interests of the peoples of the Western Balkans, who have certainly lived through unhappy times, to face up to those challenges. It is also in the interests of the European Union to smooth their path towards Europe, because our primordial objective must be peace and stability in the continent of Europe.
The stabilisation and association process is still the general framework for the Western Balkan countries’ European route towards future accession. This process seeks to help the countries of that region to establish sustainable peace, democracy, stability, prosperity and respect for minority rights. These objectives are the same as those of the European Project which, after the most terrible of wars, succeeded in reconciling enemy nations and enabling them to build a common future. It is important to note that this same ideal, this same vision, has also enriched the experience of the latest enlargement. This morning we have just taken a very important decision, that is, Parliament has just taken a very important decision on this subject, in this case in relation to Bulgaria and Romania.
Each year, the Council carries out a review both of the progress achieved by the countries concerned in the process of stabilisation and association and of the unresolved problems, on the basis of the Commission’s annual reports. This review is an important exercise, which reminds us that the Western Balkans are making progress along the path towards the European Union. As had been agreed at the Thessaloniki Summit, in 2004 the Union concluded European partnerships with the countries of this region for the first time. They were submitted by the Commission at the same time as the reports on the partnerships and on the stabilisation and association process. These partnerships, which take their inspiration from the partnerships for the accession of candidate countries, serve as individually tailored roadmaps, adapted to fit the specific situation of each country. They indicate the specific actions which should be taken as a matter of priority. The Commission and the Council are monitoring the progress being made in the implementation of these partnerships.
The Union’s approach towards the Balkans is thus already highly individualised and based on the principle of each country’s own merits. All the participants at the Thessaloniki summit accepted the fact that the rate of progress of the countries of the region towards future accession will depend on the speed with which they implement the necessary reforms and comply with the existing Copenhagen criteria and the stabilisation and association process. Those which perform best will be able to advance more quickly. At the present time only two countries have concluded a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union, namely Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. At this stage Croatia is the first country in the region to have become a candidate country.
The process is thus a general one, but it follows the ‘each country on its merits’ approach. The prospect of accession, however, which is the only guarantee that the development of these countries will be a reality for everyone, applies in accordance with that approach.
At the time of the last Council review of the stabilisation and association process, in May 2004, the Council welcomed the progress achieved in the region. It found that there was sustainable stabilisation as regards the security situation. However, despite the successes achieved in recent years, the possibility of situations getting out of control, of violence, and of the calling into question of the fundamental values on which the European construction is founded, cannot, unfortunately, be definitively ruled out. That is why we must remain particularly attentive and vigilant regarding possible developments. Peace and stability cannot be taken for granted in this region. The legacy of a dark past, in which a destructive nationalism wrought havoc, has not totally disappeared.
For this region, 2005 will be the year in which major opportunities will arise. Thus the Council will be closely monitoring the continued implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a country which has applied to the European Union to become a candidate country. The political developments in Albania, particularly in the light of the forthcoming parliamentary elections which are due to take place this summer, deserve our full attention."@en1
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