Five EU countries have asked the European Commission to review the way it includes countries from the Western Balkans in the bloc's single market, presenting this as a way to keep the countries concerned away from Russian influence.
“To maintain the momentum of enlargement and advance European integration, strong and attractive incentives are needed,” Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia wrote in a confidential document that was circulated among the 27 EU countries in Brussels last Friday, and was first reported by the Rapporteur.
“Merit-based access – if necessary, step by step – to the European single market constitutes such an incentive,” write these countries, which are part of an informal club that politically supports the Western Balkans’ EU aspirations, reports Euractiv, reports Gazeta Express.
The countries describe the proposed model as “systematic sectoral integration.” It would involve expanding the range of EU programs that countries like Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia can participate in, while harmonizing, chapter by chapter, with Brussels’ fine-grained regulation.
“Gradual integration … should be pursued actively and systematically once a candidate has demonstrated a high level of alignment with the EU acquis in the relevant sector,” the document says. It also adds that safeguards should be included in case a country with preferential access to the EU market turns back.
The document suggests several new sectors that could be included, such as transport, energy and electricity markets, the digital single market, competition strategies and policies for critical raw materials. It also cites the youth mobility agreement between the UK and the EU as an example of a benefit that could also be offered to the Western Balkan countries.
In terms of ambition, the document falls short of the ideas proposed by Ferit Hoxha, Albania's foreign minister, in an interview with Euractiv last week, where he suggested that candidate countries should gain observer status in EU bodies as they close chapters.
Milan Nič, senior researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations, was unimpressed by the content of the document, saying it does not differ much from previous concepts.
“It seems like a slightly more sophisticated version of the previous push for gradual integration,” he said.
The authors of the document called on Marta Kos, the Commissioner for Enlargement, to come up with new ideas along these lines.
“This approach would expand and strengthen the single market, contributing to the EU's geo-economic importance and strategic autonomy, while bringing candidates closer and helping to counter the influence of third countries,” the document states.
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