Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-08-Speech-3-396"
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"en.20100908.17.3-396"2
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"The objective of our policy towards the Western Balkans is to contribute to the stability of the region and to help the countries of the region establish peace, democracy, stability and prosperity in the long term.
Finally, the Council is not currently in a position to comment on the impact of enlargement on the EU’s current budget and the budget for 2014-2020, as it is still awaiting the Commission’s proposal on the next financial perspective.
In 1999, the EU decided to implement the Stabilisation and Association Process – the framework for the accession process culminating in the possible accession of these countries – in order to better spread out their preparations for EU membership. These preparations remain essential for the stability, reconciliation and future of the region. They are developing and taking shape in accordance with the Thessaloniki Agenda and with the renewed consensus on enlargement, which lays down fair and rigorous conditions.
The Council has therefore repeatedly confirmed the European Union’s unwavering commitment to the Western Balkan countries’ preparations for EU membership, including recently at the Foreign Affairs Council on 14 June, following the Sarajevo meeting on 2 June.
Over the years, the EU has signed six stabilisation and association agreements with the region’s countries, four of which have already entered into force. In October 2009, the Commission proposed the start of accession negotiations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The accession negotiations with Croatia, under way since October 2005, are, for their part, in their final stages. The EU remains politically involved in the process through all of its instruments: three Common Security and Defence Policy missions – two in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one in Kosovo – and three special representatives in Skopje, Priština and Sarajevo.
Financial aid will surpass EUR 900 million in 2010 and will reach EUR 1 billion in 2013. In total, since 1991, the European Union has provided the region’s countries with more than EUR 13 billion in financial aid.
As far as accession dates are concerned, these depend entirely upon fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria and of the conditions laid down in the Stabilisation and Association Process. This process dictates a clear-cut procedure: stabilisation and association agreement, Commission opinion on the application for membership, candidate status, accession negotiations and, finally, accession.
The Council is eager to progress to the next stages of the process, but it is up to the governments of the region’s countries to respect the conditions laid down, to maintain – or even step up – the pace of the necessary reforms and to rise to the major challenges. The countries of the region should increase their efforts in relation to the fight against corruption and organised crime, administrative capacity building, and the resolution of outstanding issues.
The objectives of the Stabilisation and Association Process will not be accomplished if the people and the governments of the region do not show determination and responsibility in assuming an active role. The future of the region ultimately depends on its people and its governments. Regional cooperation and the policy of good neighbourliness are major factors in the reconciliation and resolution of bilateral disputes. Such policies are at the heart of the EU’s approach towards the region and have been promoted systematically by the EU since 1995. In this context, on 14 June, the Council invited the countries concerned to resolve outstanding issues with neighbouring countries.
I should like to conclude by pointing out that, in November 2009, the Council took the decision to permit visa-free travel for citizens of three of the region’s countries and is currently working on an identical decision for the citizens of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I hope that the European Parliament and the Council will take this decision this year, too."@en1
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