The word of the leading EU representatives from Germany, France, Italy and Romania carries some weight. During their visit to Kyiv on Thursday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis spoke out in favor of immediately granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate country.
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The four guests sent a “clear signal” to the rest of the community, EU diplomats said on Friday.
The decision on whether Kyiv will receive the coveted status will not be made until the Brussels summit at the end of next week. And even if three representatives from EU founding members, Scholz, Macron and Draghi, support the Ukrainian candidacy, this does not necessarily mean that all 27 EU states will participate in the summit.
Before Scholz and Co. positioned themselves clearly in favor of Ukraine in Kyiv, only Poland and the Baltic states had demanded without ifs and buts that Ukraine should be given candidate status at the summit. Until the visit to Kyiv, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy and Ireland also belonged to the camp of supporters of candidate status, albeit with reservations.
Portugal’s Prime Minister: Better to focus on emergency aid
However, it was already clear before the EU representatives traveled to the Ukrainian capital that a number of countries in the community would rather put the brakes on the brakes before the possible start of Ukraine’s accession process, or at least want to see clear conditions fulfilled.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa told the Financial Times that the EU should focus on emergency aid for Ukraine instead of getting caught up in legal debates about Ukraine’s candidate status.
Costa justified his reluctance with the fact that the EU accession process would arouse “wrong expectations” in Ukraine. Therefore, the upcoming summit should primarily be about how the EU can support long-term reconstruction in Ukraine. However, Costa did not position himself clearly against candidate status for Ukraine. This is crucial because unanimity among the 27 members is required for status to be granted.
Austria is worried about prospects for the Western Balkans
Austria is one of the countries that are calling for a more cautious approach to Ukraine. The government in Vienna recently published a so-called non-paper informally setting out Austria’s position on the EU’s enlargement policy. The paper said that the “geopolitical landscape” had changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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With a view to further enlargement steps, however, one must consider whether the existing instruments – from the granting of candidate status to the opening of regular accession negotiations to full membership – are the right ones. Rather, it should be considered whether countries willing to join should not be offered the option of joining the common internal market as a first step, for example.
In addition, the government in Vienna attaches great importance to the fact that the countries in the western Balkans that are willing to join the EU must not be left behind, even if the EU’s current focus is on Ukraine. The EU is already conducting accession negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro, while North Macedonia and Albania have been waiting for talks to start for a long time. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, on the other hand, still have to do without candidate status, which is now within reach for Ukraine.
In the non-paper, the Austrian government therefore proposes regularly involving the Western Balkan states in informal EU meetings. In addition, regular EU-Western Balkans summits and an observer status for the states from the region at the EU institutions are proposed.
EU states do not want a blank check for Kyiv
However, the greatest concern of skeptical states such as Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands is that Ukraine, as an EU aspirant, could receive a kind of blank check from the community – despite well-known grievances such as corruption and a lack of rule of law. Scholz, too, had always emphasized before his trip to Kyiv that there should be no shortcuts for Ukraine on its way to the EU.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen took these concerns into account with her recommendation on Friday. According to the Brussels authorities’ proposal, both Ukraine and Moldova should be granted EU candidate status. However, von der Leyen emphasized that further progress in the accession process depends entirely on Ukraine.
As an example, she cited the legislation passed in Kyiv against the influence of oligarchs, which she said must now be implemented. The same applies to the authorities responsible for prosecuting corruption, which must now become fully operational.
In other words: without rectifying such deficiencies, the next crucial step – the opening of accession talks – is unthinkable. According to EU diplomats, the conditions mentioned by the President of the Commission should help the previously skeptical states to speak out in favor of candidate status.
