Why does candidate status for Ukraine and Moldova not mean rapid EU membership?

Following the decision of the European Commission to propose to the European Union to grant candidate status to these two countries, each of the 27 member states is now expected to give its consent.

Ukraine applied for EU membership on February 28, four days after the start of the Russian occupation of this country, in eastern Europe.

Moldova and Georgia did the same on March 3 this year.

Georgia has not received the green light from the European Commission, arguing that its application will be reconsidered.

However, the history of the enlargement of the European bloc, especially in the case of Turkey, has shown that candidate status means nothing to the expectation that a country must pass until it joins.

All the countries of the Western Balkans have stated that EU membership is their strategic goal and they are all at different stages of the integration process.

At the same time, both countries – Ukraine and Moldova – will pass Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo into the integration process, although the latter have been waiting in line for years.

Both Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina have the status of potential candidates, which means that they have been promised membership ‘when they are ready’.

But it must be borne in mind that after the Russian occupation of Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Moldova found themselves in the same basket.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, along with Georgia, has described the three countries as countries where Russia could provoke destabilizing situations.

Announcing the candidacy decision, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed the “crucial reforms” carried out by Moldova, especially in the fight against corruption.

What is expected in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Unlike Ukraine and Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina has no recommendation to become a candidate country for full EU membership.

Asked about the possibility of granting candidate status to Bosnia, EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi recalled that the country must meet 14 conditions before the start of membership negotiations.

“Bosnia has its own way and the conditions that apply to it. Bosnia must meet 14 criteria… we are still waiting for that to happen. “If we renegotiate the terms, it would mean shortening the process, and we do not do that.”

Among the 14 criteria that Bosnia has in front of it, is that of changing the constitution of the state, and therefore it poses a special challenge.

The three ethnic groups, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, are failing to find an agreement that would abolish their exclusive rights to elections or executive, legislative and judicial appointments.

So far, Bosnia has fully met a priority related to the functioning of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Commission.

In recent days, however, voices have been heard again in support of Bosnia’s path to the European bloc.

One of the messages coming out of the Prespa Forum, which was held in northern Macedonia from June 16th to 18th, is that Bosnia and Herzegovina should receive EU candidate status as soon as possible.

“I propose a new package, for Bosnia and Herzegovina to receive candidate status immediately, without additional conditions,” said Slovenian President Borut Pahor.

Slow steps towards the EU

Bilateral relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU have been developed for more than 25 years and it all started in 1997, when Bosnia was given the opportunity to use the so-called autonomous trade preferences.

Negotiations for the signing of a Stabilization and Association Agreement between Bosnia and the EU began in 2005.

The documents were signed three years later and entered into force in 2015.

In December 2010, Bosnia entered the regime of free movement within the EU.

In 2016, Bosnia submitted its application for EU membership.

At the end of that year, Bosnia accepted the documents, through which the European bloc assesses the readiness of a state to start the membership process.

In 2019, the European Commission issued its opinion on the request, saying that Bosnia and Herzegovina must meet 14 criteria in order to gain candidate status.

Ukraine and Moldova will meet these criteria later, if they receive the status./REL

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