War in Ukraine: is it possible to speed up Kiev’s application for EU membership?


In a videoconference speech to MEPs on Tuesday March 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his desire to see his country join the European Union as quickly as possible. But is an emergency membership procedure really possible?

After having officially made its request the day before in Parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, through the voice of its leader, therefore again pleaded for integration “without delay” into the European Union.

Except that in normal times, this request requires years of negotiations.

What procedure to follow?

In this context, and despite the fact that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has also indicated that she wants to admit Ukraine among the Member States, the reality looks more complicated. Indeed, the procedure provided for in Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, initially evokes a phase of application, then of negotiations. Once finalized, it is then necessary to obtain a favorable vote from the European Parliament, as well as a unanimous decision from the Council of the European Union, and therefore from the 27 Member States.

“We have heard President Volodymyr Zelensky’s message for an accelerated procedure but once again I remind you that the Commission is working on the basis of a mandate it receives to negotiate”, wished to recall, moreover, Eric Mamer, the Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission.

Other countries that have been waiting for years to join the EU

In addition, five countries are already officially candidates to join the EU. For three of them, negotiations are in progress. These are Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. As regards the other two, Albania and North Macedonia, negotiations have not yet started. Requests, which were all made before 2009.

Ultimately, even if the European Council and the Twenty-Seven decided to declare Ukraine as a candidate for membership, this could not be done in the short term, and even less in such a war. For the time being, the European Union will continue whatever happens to support the country invaded by the Russian army since February 24th.





Source link -80