catch basin for EU candidates
Macron wants a federation of states for friends of Europe
05/09/2022, 8:55 p.m
Ukraine wants to join the EU as soon as possible. However, the admissions process can take years. France’s president wants to create trust and set up a kind of confederation of states for political exchange. Chancellor Scholz supports the idea.
Joining the EU is a long process. In order to give candidate countries a new sense of belonging, French President Emmanuel Macron wants to set up a kind of new confederation of states. He wants to create a “European political community,” said the 44-year-old in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. According to Macron’s ideas, the new political community could also include states such as Great Britain or Ukraine.
The new confederation of states could “enable a new space for political cooperation, security and cooperation,” said the head of state. Macron is also on a confrontational course with EU opponents in his own country. France is one of the countries that has recently been skeptical about an enlargement of the EU.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz endorsed Macron’s proposal. “I want to say explicitly that this is a very interesting proposal for dealing with the major challenges that we have,” said the Chancellor at a joint press conference with Macron in Berlin. “We agree that Ukraine belongs to the European family,” said Scholz. “We are working on continuing to accompany them on their way to our common Europe.” Ukraine had applied to join the EU shortly after the Russian invasion. The EU Commission intends to issue its official statement on this in June. Macron, however, had dampened hopes of quick accession in Strasbourg. The process could take “decades,” he said.
However, Scholz emphasized that this should not prevent the EU from further advancing the admission of the Western Balkan states in particular. “We stand by our membership promises.” Many countries have already made far-reaching, courageous decisions with a view to possible EU accession. “We should find a way in which this courage is not disappointed.”
In the lengthy accession process, the candidate country has to prove that it complies with the EU regulations, the so-called acquis. Georgia and Moldova are also hoping to join the European Union. These two former Soviet republics also see themselves as possible targets of Russian aggression. In addition, a number of Balkan countries have been waiting for progress in the EU accession process for some time.