Page 62 - bne magazine July 2022_20220704

62 I Eastern Europe bne July 2022
it faster than in 8 years, and most often it took 9-10 years to complete it.
Now there are five countries in
the status of candidates - Turkey
(a candidate since 1999), North Macedonia (since 2005), Montenegro (since 2010), Serbia (since 2012) and Albania (since 2014). Croatia became the last new member of the EU in 2013, waiting for approval of the application for 10.5 years.
And the reason for the Balkans’ pique is the EU has clearly rushed through Ukraine’s application. The country applied for EU membership only days after the war started, submitting its form on February 28 and now has been granted candidate status in June less than four months later. Usually, the first stage alone takes years.
Kyiv has not been idle in its ambitions to join the European trade club and has already made a start on some of the reforms. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that by now Kyiv has brought
its legislation and law enforcement practices in line with EU standards
by about 70%. “Important work that still needs to be done” concerns the rule of law, oligarchs, the fight against corruption and basic civil rights.
necessary reforms are unlikely to begin before the end of the war.
Kyiv will need to follow several steps before beginning full accession negotiations. These include:
• Implementing legislation on a selection procedure for judges of
time, even once it begins full accession negotiations. This decision from the EU has been seen as a highly symbolic one, without costing the bloc anything in return.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, pointing to the Western Balkans, warned Ukraine to expect a frustrating wait:
“The EU will monitor Ukraine’s progress and publish a report in the new year”
Corruption remains the main bugbear. In the latest Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine ranked 122nd (Russia – 136th). That makes the judicial reforms a top priority as Ukraine’s courts are venally corrupt. Among the specific measures that Kyiv will need to take are a new procedure for electing a constitutional court
and bringing anti-money laundering legislation in line with FATF standards, writes Bloomberg. Obviously, the
• Tackling the influence of vested interests by adopting a new media law aligned with EU media directives;
• Finalising reforms of the legal framework for national minorities.
The EU will monitor Ukraine’s progress and publish a report in the new year.
However, it is likely that Ukraine will be stuck in the waiting room for a long
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“Kyiv has brought its legislation and law enforcement practices in line with EU standards by about 70% but more needs to be done”
the constitutional court;
• Finalising integrity vetting of
candidates for various judicial councils;
• Strengthening the fight against corruption, including via the appointment of a new head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office;
• Ensuring that anti-money laundering legislation is in compliance with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force;
• Implementing anti-oligarch legislation;
“North Macedonia is a candidate
since 17 years, Albania since eight, so welcome to Ukraine, it’s a good thing to give candidate status but I hope
the Ukrainian people will not [have] many illusions”, Rama told Kyiv after the West Balkan Summit before the European Council meeting on June 23.
Despite the general perception
the Kremlin opposes Ukraine’s membership, the opposite is true. Russian diplomats consistently say that Russia is opposed because the EU is
no longer an economic union, but "an aggressive player that is merging with NATO."
Russia’s objection has always been
that it is happy for Ukraine to expand its trade regime, but as Russia also shares a border with Ukraine Russia’s trade interest should also be taken
into account and so any talks on Ukraine joining the EU should be done in conjunction with Russia. Brussels pointedly refused this proposal and signed off on the Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA) with Ukraine at
a time when Russia had an open border with Ukraine, which has been a major source of conflict. Because of Brussels’ lack of willingness to include Moscow in the trade talks the border was closed and trade between Ukraine and Russia – formerly its biggest trade partner –
has collapsed.