Ilhan Kyuchyuk: We need a new dynamic for the enlargement process in order to overcome the reservations against the Western Balkans

The Liberal-centrist political group “Renew Europe” held a high-level roundtable in the European Parliament discussing  the future of the Western Balkans on the 05^th and 06^th  of February.

The discussion, organized by MRF MEP and European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur on North Macedonia – Ilhan Kyuchyuk – took place at a crucial moment after Renew Europe had earlier adopted its position on the EU membership prospect for the Western Balkan countries, and after the European Commission presented its proposal to the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the reform of the accession methodology shortly before the conference began.

Opening the conference together with Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Renew Europe President Dacian Ciolos pointed out: “The future of the Western Balkans is in the EU, but the accession process cannot be only a bureaucratic procedure. It needs to be modernized in order to become clearer, more dynamic, more effective, a genuine tool for reforms and in order to give citizens the opportunity to experience the benefits of EU and live a better life. The Commission’s new perspective is a step forward in delivering new energy to the accession process. Candidate countries could benefit from an increased funding and investment instruments before the accession, but it is also important that they are involved in the major EU discussions – on the Green Deal, the digital agenda.”

Presenting to the European Commission’s concept of changes to the accession rules, Commissioner Várhelyi stated: “Today is an important day for the new European Commission, because if we want to be a serious geopolitical actor, we cannot afford our neighbours to move further away from us. At the end of last year, the Council took difficult decisions that had a strong resonance in the region – and not only on political elite but also on people’s daily lives. We need to overcome this, despite the difficulties in both the Western Balkan countries and Member States, in order to remove the temptation of other powers to fill the vacuum of our inaction. The only way forward is renewing the process so that it can be trusted. Everyone has to understand it and everyone has to be heard. That is why today we have proposed a new vision for the enlargement methodology, based on nothing more and nothing less than the Copenhagen criteria, but guided by more awareness, rewarding concrete results accomplished, predictability and dynamism.”

“Our position in the Renew Europe Group is firm support of the European perspective of the Western Balkans. We are aware of the need to renew the way the accession process is going, as it is indeed  currently not sufficiently effective, but at the same time we consider that we need to also take into account the European Union’s gaps in reading the signals from the region, and I hope that the new accession methodology presented today would really bring a new dynamic to the process by overcoming the reservations against enlargement policy. Only clear and fair rules and constant dialogue can contribute to the undertaking of reforms as a conscious necessity and not as something imposed from outside. That is why the roundtable organized by Renew Europe brought together on an equal footing representatives of the European institutions, representatives of the pro-European liberal parties and Ambassadors to the EU from the region. It is important for the integration of the Western Balkans as well that thy are involved from an early stage in key European policies such as the European Green deal, connectivity and Conference on the Future of Europe. At Renew Europe, we believe it is in the interest of all of us to achieve the strategically important goal of a stable and economically strong Western Balkans, part of a stronger and more renewed European Union”, commented Ilhan Kyuchyuk.

During the conference, the proposed changes to the accession process as well as strengthening the rule of law – outside and within the EU, strengthening the economy, the new Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance – IPA III, and cooperation on security and borders were discussed. In the various panels of the debate, along with the Renew Europe MEPs took part the Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi, the Vice-President of the European Commission on Values ​​and Transparency – Věra Jourová, the Commissioner for Justice – Didier Reynders, as well as leaders of liberal parties, deputy-foreign ministers and members of Parliament from the Balkan region.