EU: EU Priorities Fully Reflected in European Commission’s Reports on Candidates

Ana Pisonero (YouTube screenshot)

The European Commission's reports offer a strict and fair assessment of the situation in countries applying for membership in the European Union, along with detailed recommendations and the rule of law is still key to the accession process, a spokesperson for the EC told Euractiv Serbia and BETA.

When asked to comment on remarks that this year's reports on candidate countries had been toned down in the context of rule of law, Pisonero said that "EU priorities in the Western Balkans are fully reflected in the reports which are designed to encourage the region to implement different reform processes," adding that "enlargement is still a merit-based process."

"The rule of law is the foundation of European values, and the chief requirement in the accession process," the EC spokeswoman said, recalling that last year the Commission had adopted a revised enlargement methodology, which put fundamental reforms, the rule of law in particular, at the heart of the process and the EU's engagement.

She also said that the EC was strongly committed to improving the accession process for the Western Balkans, and that it would continue to support "all six partners in key political, institutional, social and economic reforms, necessary for them to move forward on the path to the EU."