EC recommends opening EU accession negotiations with Macedonia

Fri, Feb 10 2012

Wed, Oct 14 2009 14:23 CET

byClive Leviev-Sawyer

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EC recommends opening EU accession negotiations with Macedonia

Fans with their faces painted in the colours of the Macedonia flag cheer for their team during their international friendly soccer match against Spain in Skopje, August 12 2009.

The European Commission recommended on October 14 2009 that EU accession negotiations be opened with Macedonia.

"The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has made important progress and has substantially addressed the key accession partnership priorities. The Commission considers that the country sufficiently fulfils the political criteria set by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 and the Stabilisation and Association Process and therefore has decided to recommend the opening of accession negotiations," the EC said in a report on the progress of would-be member states.

Macedonia was given EU candidate country status in December 2005.

The EC report’s section on political criteria said that Macedonia’s presidential and local elections of 2009 met most international standards.

"Political dialogue has improved: the governing coalition is stable, the political climate is more co-operative and the parliament is more effective. The key Accession Partnership priorities regarding the reform of the police, the judiciary, public administration and corruption have been substantially addressed," according to the EC.

The report said that the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement remains an essential element of democracy and rule of law in the country.

There had been progress on implementing the law on languages, on decentralisation and equitable representation. However, further efforts in a constructive spirit are needed to fulfil the objectives of the agreement, the EC said.

The legal and institutional framework for human rights and the protection of minorities was, according to the EC, "broadly in place".

"Nevertheless, further efforts are needed to improve implementation in a number of fields."

Macedonia had generally good relations with countries in the region, but relations with Greece continued to be affected by the unresolved issue about the use of the name Macedonia.

The country is engaged in talks under the auspices of the UN on resolving this dispute.

"Maintaining good neighbourly relations, including a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution to the name issue, remains essential," the EC report said.

On economic criteria, the EC said that Macedonia continued to move closer towards becoming a functioning market economy.

"It should be able to cope with competitive pressures and market forces within the Union in the medium term, provided that it vigorously implements its reform programme in order to reduce significant structural weaknesses."

Growth decelerated and became negative in 2009 following the deterioration in the international environment. The financial sector remained reasonably stable while inflation declined markedly.

Some progress had been achieved in addressing structural unemployment and in reducing impediments to employment.

"However, the still very high unemployment, in particular among young and poorly educated, remains a major cause of concern."

The EC said that further progress had been made in improving the business environment.

"However, improvements in the administration and the rule of law are necessary to allow for smooth functioning of the market economy. Financial independence of supervisory and regulatory agencies has been strengthened. In the context of the election period and the global economic crisis, the overall economic policy mix has deteriorated. This contributed to widening of the external imbalances and an increase of the external vulnerability of the country."

On EU legal order criteria, the EC report said that Macedonia had made good progress in improving its ability to assume the obligations of membership, in particular as concerns transport, customs and taxation and justice, freedom and security .

But "less progress" had been achieved in certain other areas such as energy, the environment and employment and social policy.

Sustained efforts are needed to strengthen administrative capacity for the implementation and enforcement of legislation. In line with the relevant key priority of the Accession Partnership, commitments undertaken in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement have been implemented, the EC report said.