EU Decision Possible Next Week to Open Talks with North Macedonia, Albania

Evropska-Unija

Croatia, the latest rotating chair of the European Union (EU), proposed that a decision to open accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania be made next week, and that the first intergovernmental accession conference should take place shortly after the negotiating framework had been accepted.

According to the conclusions the Hina agency had access to, which the General Affairs Council should pass at the next session on March 24, the suggestion is that the decision to open accession negotiations with the two states be made.

The draft will be discussed at the ambassadorial level first, before it reaches the ministers of European affairs. The conclusions need to be supported unanimously by all member states, which is why the draft may be altered before adoption. If the Council of Ministers passed the decision, it should be supported by the European Council, made up of heads of state and government, at the next summit on March 26 and 27.

According to the conclusions, the Council should urge the European Commission to present the draft of negotiating framework for both states no later than June. It is a key document defining the principles the accession talks will build on. The negotiating framework should be passed unanimously by the member states, as a precondition for the first intergovernmental conference that will formally launch the talks.