Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-23-Speech-4-390"
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"en.20090423.65.4-390"2
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"Madam President, I am glad that the Western Balkans are back on the European Parliament’s agenda this week. In recent years a steady stabilisation in the region has taken place, not least thanks to the region’s European perspective, with the ultimate goal being EU membership once the conditions have been met by every country. Croatia’s negotiations are quite far advanced. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a candidate looking forward to opening its negotiations, and we have a network of Stabilisation and Association Agreements in place. Stability in Kosovo was maintained throughout last year’s important developments.
I would like to thank Doris Pack for her motion and welcome the opportunity to discuss Bosnia and Herzegovina with you today, at a very crucial moment. Last year, Bosnia and Herzegovina made progress on the path of European integration, especially through the signature of the SAA and the entry into force of the interim agreement. There have been positive developments in recent months as well, including the Prud Agreement, progress on the Brcko issue and steps towards a census in 2011. Also, the implementation of the SAA interim agreement is broadly on track.
While we need to be firm on the fulfilment of the ‘5+2’ conditions for the closure of the Office of the High Representative, there is now a possibility that they could met in the coming months. Recent steps towards the establishment of a state property inventory are also positive in this regard.
However, here, as for the rest of the region, there is no room for complacency. Overall reform has remained slow, including on the key EU priorities, and challenges remain. Nationalist rhetoric is still very present, creating unnecessary political tensions. This needs to change if Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to continue its progress towards the European Union and avoid falling behind its neighbours.
The Serbian Government remains committed to advancing on its European agenda, and there have been a number of positive developments recently. It will be essential, however, as the country is increasingly feeling the negative effects of the global financial crisis, that key reform measures are not overlooked. The process of structural adjustment must continue and the country needs to follow through its commitments, particularly in the area of judiciary and the rule of law.
We are currently examining ways in which to alleviate the impact of the financial crisis, working closely together with my colleague, Joaquín Almunia. For instance, we are looking at our IPA programme, for which we are considering converting part of the 2009 national envelope into direct budgetary support, also with the support of the international financial institutions.
We appreciate Parliament’s sustained support for the EU’s efforts in Kosovo, which remains a European priority and central to regional stability. The European Council has repeatedly confirmed that Kosovo shares a European perspective with the rest of the Western Balkans. The Council has asked the Commission to use Community instruments to promote economic and political development and to propose measures to advance in that direction.
This autumn, the Commission will present a study to this effect. We shall examine how Kosovo can progress as part of the wider region towards integration with the European Union in the context of the stabilisation and association process.
Finally, looking at 2009 overall and the Western Balkans region as a whole, there has been quite good progress in the area of visa liberalisation, which proves to my mind that, when the incentives are right, the countries respond with effective reforms. This is most likely the single EU policy area that matters most to the ordinary people – the ordinary citizens – of the Western Balkans. We hope to table a proposal for visa-free travel by the end of the Czech Presidency for those countries that are most advanced in this field and have fulfilled the established conditions. This could enable decisions by the Council to achieve visa-free travel for the most advanced countries by the end of 2009.
Dear friends, I count on your support on this essential visa issue as well as, more broadly, on the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
We must not put these achievements at risk through any kind of complacency or distraction by other – sometimes perhaps more urgent – matters. Many will have questions about EU enlargement in the middle of an economic crisis, and discussions are likely to intensify as we approach the next elections for this Parliament.
This is understandable and I, for one, feel the pain of our citizens concerning their future, jobs and welfare. At the same time, let us not make EU enlargement a scapegoat for something it is not responsible for. We should not make it a scapegoat for our own domestic economic and social problems. Therefore, a well-informed public debate is essential to keep us all engaged and making progress in this important region.
There have been calls for consolidation of the European Union. This is exactly what we have been doing for the past years since the renewed consensus on enlargement which was adopted by the European Council and endorsed by the European Parliament in December 2006. The key of this renewed consensus is not to take on new commitments but to stick to the existing commitments and respect them. In other words, if the countries of the Western Balkans fulfil the established conditions, they can move towards EU membership.
In this context, I very much welcome Mrs Ibrisagic’s report. It rightly emphasises the fundamental importance of offering the Western Balkans a European future. It is the main driving force of much-needed reform and greater stability in the Western Balkans. Ten years after the horrific events in Kosovo, we should remind ourselves of the power of the European perspective. It still helps today to consolidate stability and peace in a region that is, effectively, our own front yard – not back yard, but front yard.
We cannot take a sabbatical from our work for peace and stability in the continent. While the European Union pursues its own institutional reform, we need to keep on working in parallel on a carefully managed and gradual accession process in the Western Balkans that strengthens both the institutions and civil society there.
The accession negotiations with Croatia have, until recently, been going well. This is why the Commission proposed, in November 2008, an indicative road map to reach the final stage of accession negotiations by the end of 2009, provided Croatia fulfils the conditions. There is still plenty of work to do, and many reforms need to be stepped up by Croatia. Unfortunately, the negotiations are currently blocked because of the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia. This is a bilateral issue which has
become a European problem.
Since January, working closely with the Czech Presidency and the trio of the Czech, French and Swedish Governments, I have taken the initiative to help facilitate a solution. The aim is to find a solution to the border issue and allow for the continuation of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations. This is still work in progress and we have needed a great deal of patience and determination to keep up the momentum and progress. We had a full day of talks yesterday with the foreign ministers of Slovenia and Croatia, as well as of the trio countries. I want to believe that we are close to finding a way forward and overcoming these obstacles so that we can continue Croatia’s EU accession negotiations shortly.
Concerning the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, I welcome the overall satisfactory conduct of the presidential and municipal elections. Over the past months we have insisted on the importance of these elections for the country’s European future. The country has responded positively to our message, thus confirming its willingness to move forward in its accession process. However, the key priorities for reform should not be forgotten. It is indeed now time to step up efforts in order to meet the benchmarks which have been set for the opening of accession negotiations."@en1
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