Dangerous Regressions
The EU integration of the countries of Southeast Europe is clearly in Europe’s interest. Yet some EU countries are adopting a new obstructionist stance. A commentary by Karl von Habsburg.
A week ago, the European Commission presented its new paper on EU enlargement. Amongst other things, it proposes opening accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. For Macedonia in particular, this was merely a logical step. The country has held candidate status since 2005. Until now, Greece has acted as the great blocker of its neighbour. A naming dispute served as a pretext for Athens. Greece’s argument was that if the neighbouring country were called Macedonia, it would imply a claim to part of Greek territory. Last year, an agreement was finally reached between the two countries: the country is now called North Macedonia, and Greece has abandoned its blockade. This should have given the green light to the process promised to the countries of Southeast Europe (those not yet members of the EU) back in 2003 in Thessaloniki: the path into the European Union.
But now France and the Netherlands are blocking progress. This is not entirely new. Both countries are also blocking visa liberalisation for Kosovo, for example. This is despite the fact that Kosovo has met all conditions; fulfilling the promise would therefore have been a simple demonstration of the EU’s credibility.
The Netherlands is even going a step further and wants to reintroduce visa requirements for Albanian citizens. Germany and Denmark are supporting the two obstructionist countries.
In both France and the Netherlands, parties in government belong to the ALDE liberal group in the European Parliament. This is piquant because liberals often see themselves as the ‘true Europeans’, yet here they are clearly casting aside Europe and the idea of a united Europe. Whatever the justification for the blockade may be, the objection that enlargement is too expensive is a very one-dimensional view that ignores essential aspects. Even if one only considers the economic side and the costs, one must weigh them against the costs of a zone of instability. The higher the standards of democracy and the rule of law, the better it is for Europe, and the more attractive it becomes to invest in the region and thus create prosperity. This is a lesson that can be drawn from all previous enlargements. Naturally, it is also a challenge for the EU to exert the right pressure on the countries of the region to ensure the rule of law—especially when certain problems, such as drug trafficking in Albania, are evident. However, it is illusory to believe that these problems would be solved by preventing the start of accession negotiations or even by reintroducing visa requirements.
Politicians in Southeast European countries also know that they are not implementing reforms for the EU, but for their own countries. If governments of EU countries—especially those that like to see themselves as founding members—now want to exclude certain European countries from the project of European unification, then they have not understood Europe. In any case, they cannot pin the blame for this blockade on the ‘evil right-wing populists’.
The article originally appeared on the website of Karl von Habsburg.
Featured image copyright European Union 2015
