Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-11-Speech-3-353"
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"en.20070711.31.3-353"2
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"Mr President, honourable Members, as you know, in December 2005, the European Council decided to confer candidate country status on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, taking into consideration, above all, the substantial progress made by the country towards compliance with the legislative framework contained in the Ohrid Framework Agreement, and commitment to implementing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
The Council also stressed at the time that new stages on the road to fulfilling some of the conditions set out in its conclusions would have to be considered. A year later, in December 2006, the Council commended the progress made but expressed its regret that the pace of reform had slowed down in 2006. Under these circumstances, the European Council of December 2006 called for the pace of reform to be accelerated in essential areas and for priorities identified in the European partnership to be carried out in order for progress to be made towards accession.
The next meeting of the Stabilisation and Association Council with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, scheduled for 24 July in Brussels, will provide an opportunity to analyse the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and to consider important matters that have arisen within the framework of the agreement, in addition to any other bilateral and international questions that may be of mutual interest.
Based on the Commission’s annual reports, the next of which is due in the autumn, the Council will make a more in-depth evaluation of the progress made by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in complying with the conditions and requirements set by the EU.
As for the country’s internal situation, the EU attaches enormous importance to the existence of functioning, stable democratic institutions and effective political dialogue. These elements are essential for the process towards integration into the EU. In this context, I would like to commend the EVMRO, DPMNE and DUI parties for having reached an agreement on 29 May 2007 on the way forward on certain questions of mutual interest, and the DUI has subsequently returned to parliament. The Council now hopes that political dialogue on fundamentally important internal questions will continue between all the political parties represented in parliament and between all interested legitimate political institutions.
A constructive political atmosphere must be maintained if the country is to concentrate on the essential reforms needed for it to make headway on its path towards EU accession. Among the aspects that need particular attention are the strengthening of public administration, the effective primacy of law, judicial reform, the fight against corruption and the continuing implementation of the Stability and Association Agreement.
Equally worthy of mention in this context is the Ohrid Framework Agreement, the full and continued execution of which constitutes an essential element of the political criteria and will remain crucial to progress towards EU accession. In this respect, it is important that every confidence is maintained regarding the application of the Badinter Principle. We also hope that headway will continue to be made in areas such as decentralisation and fair representation. The Ohrid reforms should go ahead on the basis of an agreement that is as far-reaching as possible and that fully observes the spirit and the terms of the Framework Agreement."@en1
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