The long and reversible road from Ukraine to the European Union

Euskaraz irakurri: Ukraine Europar Batasuneko kide izateko pray luze eta itzulgarria

Ukraine took the first step in its accession to the European Union this Friday after receiving the positive opinion of the European Commission that initiates a process of long-term and reversible access, linked to the progress of reforms requested by Brussels in the field of of justice, the fight against corruption and the oligarchs.

After accepting Ukraine’s request, together with Moldova’s, the Community Administration proposes to the Twenty-seven to consider granting the country candidate status for accession, a decision expected at the summit of European leaders on 23 and June 24 in the community capital. It will then join Albania and North Macedonia, both candidates but which have not yet started their accession negotiations.

The last country to join the EU is Croatia, which managed to join in 2013, ten years after applying for membership and after six years of negotiations to align with Community standards and regulations and to prepare economically. preparing to be part of the internal market.

The bonding process can be reversed

Of course, the new method for the enlargement process gives a greater role to the Twenty-seven to paralyze and even roll back the negotiations in the event that an aspiring country backtracks on the reforms promised to the EU.

The new guidelines, adopted two years ago in the midst of an impasse over the doubts Albania’s candidacy has caused among a large group of Member States led by France and the Netherlands, seek to make the process more political and credible, although the Member States and the Commission never put this mechanism into practice and blocked the negotiations for lack of compromise.

At a time when the entire EU and its partners are imposing sanctions on Russia for the military invasion of Ukraine, Serbia’s position is striking as it has not joined these sanctions, which clearly runs counter to its commitments as a candidate for the EU , leading to debate as to whether this clause should apply.

In the case of Ukraine, the new rules could have negative consequences because, as the European Commission itself acknowledges, not all the conditions it asks are acceptable for a country in a war situation. In addition, the opinion specifically provides the option to go back in the process and recalls that the new method provides that steps to the EU can be reversed if the required conditions are not met.

Conditions and revision at the end of 2022

Brussels is putting candidate status under a series of reforms that the government of Volodimir Zelensky is believed to implement. In particular, it points to the reform of the judiciary, the law against oligarchs and having an operational anti-corruption office.

On the economic front, he sees room for improvement in the functioning of his system and warns that in order to cope with competitive pressures in the EU, it will largely depend on how post-war investments in Ukraine are designed and implemented. The European executive will monitor Ukraine’s progress under the conditions set and a review is expected by the end of 2022.

At a press conference, European Commission President Úrsula von der Leyen emphasized that the accession rules are “dynamic” and allow for reversibility if there are setbacks in the promised reforms. “The most important thing about the process is that it shows that it is the country itself that controls it, in case there are any progress, stagnation or setbacks,” he stressed.

Ukraine will not benefit for the time being from the pre-accession funds allocated by the EU to countries that have embarked on the Community path to finance democratic reforms. European sources state that the mechanism is not automatic and that in order to access the funds, a country must explicitly appear among the beneficiaries, something that would come later via a proposal from Brussels.