{"id":370408,"date":"2024-06-17T15:17:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T13:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/06\/17\/adesione-ue-ucraina-moldova-consiglio-ue\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T12:19:53","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T10:19:53","slug":"eu-countries-to-vote-on-june-21-for-formal-eu-accession-process-for-ukraine-and-moldova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/06\/17\/eu-countries-to-vote-on-june-21-for-formal-eu-accession-process-for-ukraine-and-moldova\/","title":{"rendered":"EU countries to vote on June 21 for formal EU accession process for Ukraine and Moldova"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – Ukraine and Moldova are now counting down the days to the formal start of the EU accession process, with the “in principle” green light on accession negotiations soon to become a reality for the two countries that have been candidates for EU membership for exactly two years. As EU sources tell Eunews<\/em>, the vote to approve the negotiating frameworks with Kyiv and Chi\u0219in\u0103u will be held at the Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council on Friday (June 21) as an agenda item without discussion<\/strong>. The same sources specify that, after the okay of the 27 EU governments\u2014which should come without any surprises, also given the voting mode\u2014the Belgian rotating presidency of the EU Council will convene next Tuesday (June 25) the first intergovernmental conferences “in the early afternoon” on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Zelensky<\/a>
From left: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, and European Council President Charles Michel (Feb. 7, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The
\nbeginning of EU accession negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova has been a hot
\ntopic<\/a> in Brussels for weeks. The Belgian presidency, along with 12 governments more in favour of accessions<\/a>, have been keeping an eye on June 25 as the deadline
\nfor starting the transfer of power to Hungary for the EU institution’s
\nsix-month leadership<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the first negative vote at the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) on May 29, due to the Hungarian objections on Ukraine<\/a>, Belgian negotiators worked tirelessly to smooth out Budapest’s resistance (never insurmountable, actually) and allow a general understanding to be reached for the formal vote. The issue returned to the ambassadors’ table last Friday evening (June 14), with the new compromise text finding agreement in principle from all the twenty-seven countries<\/strong>. As already announced<\/a> at the end of the COREPER meeting, “the Belgian presidency will convene the first intergovernmental conferences on June 25,” although the Netherlands will first have to lift its parliamentary reservation<\/strong> (i.e., it will need a vote of 150 MPs to authorize the government to approve the proposed negotiating frameworks).<\/p>\n

After the candidate country status was granted in June 2022 and despite the steady progress recorded by the European Commission over the next year and a half, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/strong>, had chosen the the path of obstructionism<\/a> to try to prevent the green light for accession negotiations with Kyiv<\/strong>. Only after constant pressure from the EU institutions\u2014and the unblocking by the Commission of about 10 billion euros frozen<\/a> in Budapest\u2014did Orb\u00e1n make a rather unusual and striking gesture at the December 14, 2023, European Council: he left the room at the time of the vote so that the other 26 EU leaders could approve the most eagerly awaited of the summit conclusions<\/a>. With the conclusions of the March 21 European Council, the heads of state and government then called on the 27 European affairs ministers to “swiftly adopt” the draft negotiating frameworks and “take the work forward without delay”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Zelensky<\/a>
From left: the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orb\u00e1n (Feb. 7, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

The president of the European Council himself, Charles Michel<\/strong>, had confessed <\/a>on that occasion that the hope was to “arrive at the first intergovernmental conference under the Belgian presidency<\/strong>” before the baton was passed to Hungary for the establishment of calendars and agenda items for the meetings of ministers in the different Council compositions. As per last weeks’ forecast<\/a>, the Hungarian government has dropped its reservations\u2014sparing no suspense<\/em> in EU institutions\u2014on minority rights in Ukraine, trade, anti-corruption, agriculture, operation of the Single Market, and good neighborly relations<\/strong>, thanks in part to Kyiv’s strong commitment with its response to the 11-point list drawn up by Budapest. If the long-awaited green light for accession negotiations comes on June 21 and the first intergovernmental conferences four days later, the Orb\u00e1n government will not have to worry about constant controversies over the issue of Ukraine’s accession talks during its six-month presidency. Not to mention that this is certainly not the last opportunity for Hungary to use its veto power<\/strong> to block Kyiv’s EU membership.<\/p>\n

How the EU accession process works<\/h3>\n

The EU enlargement process begins with a non-EU state submitting a formal application for membership<\/strong> to the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Union membership first requires a successful examination of the Copenhagen criteria<\/strong> (established at the European Council in the Danish capital in 1993 and strengthened by the EU leaders’ meeting in Madrid two years later). These criteria are divided into three groups of basic requests<\/a> that the Union addresses to the country that has applied for membership: rule of law and democratic institutions (including respect for human rights and the protection of minorities), stable market economy (ability to cope with market forces and competitive pressure), and fulfilment of its obligations (effectively implementing the body of EU law and meeting the objectives of political, economic, and monetary union).<\/p>\n

Having obtained the positive opinion of the Commission<\/strong>, it comes to the conferment of candidate country status<\/strong> with the approval of all members of the Union. This is followed by the Commission’s recommendation to the EU Council to open negotiations<\/strong> which, again, requires the unanimous go-ahead of the member countries: this allows the negotiating chapters<\/strong> (varying in number) to be opened, the purpose of which is to prepare the candidate, particularly on the implementation of the necessary judicial, administrative and economic reforms. When the negotiations are completed, and EU enlargement is possible in terms of absorption capacity, this leads to the signing of the Accession Treaty <\/strong>(with terms and conditions for accession, including any safeguard clauses and transitional provisions), which must first be approved unanimously<\/strong> by the European Parliament and the Council.<\/p>\n