Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell and Commissioner Várhelyi at the press conference on the 2024 Enlargement Package

"Check against delivery"

Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell

Good afternoon, buenas tardes, 

Allow me, before going into the subject, due to the very difficult circumstances in Spain; permítanme expresar mi pésame por los fallecidos por la tormenta DANA, en España. Son ya más de 60 [muertos], particularmente en la provincia de Valencia, pero también en Albacete y parte de Andalucía.

Se trata de una tormenta de una intensidad sin precedentes en décadas y con muchas personas desaparecidas, que espero que puedan ser localizadas con vida; también con muchos daños materiales.

Quiero expresar la solidaridad de la Comisión Europea con los afectados por esta tragedia. Y también mi agradecimiento a todos los servicios de emergencia, los bomberos, los policías locales, la protección civil, las Fuerzas Armadas, la Policía Nacional, y la Guardia Civil – que con tanto empeño y profesionalidad están dedicados a salvar vidas. 

Este hecho, por supuesto, nos recuerda la urgencia de la lucha contra el cambio climático porque la elevada temperatura del Mediterráneo es una de las causas del aumento de estos fenómenos extremos, que son cada vez más frecuentes y cada vez más extremos.

Europa puede ayudar a través del Mecanismo Europeo de Protección Civil y el Fondo Europeo de Solidaridad frente a las catástrofes naturales, visto la enorme cuantía de los daños materiales y de las pérdidas de vidas humanas.

That being said, permítanme ahora el College read-out.  

Today, the College adopted the 2024 Enlargement Package, that I presented together with Commissioner [Oliver] Várhelyi, and we will comment with you right now.

Additionally, the College received from the former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, a report on how to strengthen the European preparedness and readiness for [our] defence – both from a civilian and military point of view. 

I see that President von der Leyen has presented this report together with [the former] President Niinistö in the morning. It is a report which makes a comprehensive and useful approach to a question that will be very high [on] the agenda: preparedness and readiness for our security and defence; mapping the vulnerabilities that the European Union and the Member States are facing, providing an extensive list of recommendations that will be studied carefully in order to prepare for a wide range of threats. 

And now, let's go to the topic of this press conference. Together with Commissioner Várhelyi, we are about to present to you the fifth – and final – Enlargement Package of this Commission.

Over the past five years, we faced unprecedented challenges on health, environment and security.

Almost one thousand days ago, Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, making clear that Russia is posing an existential threat to Europe.                                                                                                                                        

Now, more than ever, the European Union membership becomes a strategic choice. 

Alternatives can be easy in the short term: loans with no questions asked, high interest rates, or election fraud – easy short-term can bring a hard long-term. 

We are putting forward a detailed assessment of the state of play in countries aspiring to become members of the European Union. The assessment is based on the countries' individual efforts, it is merit-based – [with] the rule of law at the core of it. 

Countries which joined the European Union 20 years ago – I was at that time President of the European Parliament, I remember very well – have demonstrated through their socioeconomic success that overcoming short-term challenges paves the way for long-term benefits. 

Over the past five years, accession negotiations have returned to the top of the Commission's agenda.

Back in 2019, there were 5 candidate countries. Today, there are 9 candidates and 1 potential candidate. It makes 10 [countries], twice more. It shows that the European Union acts as a magnet, attracting people and attracting neighbours, attracting people and attracting states.

Gradual integration has been advancing, citizens of enlargement countries gain tangible benefits already. [They do not have] to wait until the end, and at the end have everything. It is a process; and through the process, benefits are tangible and citizens perceive them on a daily basis. 

This includes access to Erasmus+ and other research and cultural programmes. Since 2024, no citizen of the Western Balkans needs a visa to travel to the European Union. We have put forward Growth Plans – Commissioner Várhelyi will go in detail – for the Western Balkans, for Moldova, and the Ukraine Facility which reward reforms with the rule of law at the centre.

Now we are looking also for stronger ties in foreign and security policy, involving our partners on key priorities, standing firmly on defending our values to secure regional stability and protect the global order – because our Union should not only grow bigger, but it [also] has to grow stronger. 

You can become bigger and not stronger. Size does not mean automatically being stronger. We want both. We want to incorporate our neighbours and we want to be, all together, stronger. 

You simply cannot maintain ties with Russia, or to try to do business as usual and expect that your country will be part of the European Union. It is one thing or the other.

Over the years, we have seen that alignment with our Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is the most significant indication of the candidates sharing our values and our geopolitical orientation.

Some of our partners are fully aligned with our Common Foreign and Security Policy. I can mention North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo – who is aligning voluntarily.

Ukraine and Moldova significantly improved their alignment.

Let me highlight a few country-specific elements before handing over to Olivér [Várhelyi], who will go much more in detail.

Let me just say some things about the most important relevant questions – country by country – starting by the one which is very high on the news: Georgia.

Georgia has conducted parliamentary elections, which were marked by serious irregularities. These need to be investigated and addressed in a transparent and independent manner.

I am not going to go through these irregularities, mentioning one by one, but they are many – and some of them are grave. 

It is important to remark that independent observers have not declared the elections to be free and fair. Nor the contrary. So we are in a zone that requires investigation in order to clarify what has happened, which is the scope of the irregularities and how this has been affecting the results. 

It consolidates a trend that we have seen by the Georgian authorities in the recent months, moving the country away from the European Union. Away from its values and principles.

Our report offers a clear path for re-engagement should there be political will from Georgia's leadership. We are offering a clear path for re-engagement on the way to the European Union.

The repeal of the law on foreign influence, which has a chilling effect on civil society and media organisations, and of the law on the so-called ‘family values' – because discrimination is not a value in our European Union family – these would be first signs of concrete commitment from the Georgian leadership.

It is very important to follow closely the events that will come [during] the next days about the investigation and clarification of the irregularities that have been remarked by the electoral observation teams.

Ukraine has continued to push forward key reforms despite fighting a brutal war of aggression. Ukrainians are fighting two battles at the same time: one in the battlefield, a real war; and another striving to push the reforms needed to become [a] member of the European Union – and we will support Ukraine on both fronts, across all dimensions and in line with our security commitments signed in June.

I am saying security commitments because membership of the European Union is the ultimate security guarantee that we can offer to Ukraine.

On Kosovo and Serbia, allow me to mention the work we have been doing on the Dialogue. Believe me, a lot of work. We solved the license plate issue with their mutual recognition by Kosovo and Serbia. We succeeded in abolishing entry-exit documents, finally allowing citizens of Serbia and Kosovo to travel freely from one side of the border to the other. These are important achievements that were not easy to get. 

We put an end to 20 years of unregulated use of energy in the North of Kosovo. And we also reached the Agreement on the Path to Normalisation and its Implementation Annex – last year, with the so-called Ohrid Agreement. Unfortunately, implementation is still pending. For both Serbia and Kosovo, the [path towards] enlargement and the progress on the European Union-facilitated Dialogue towards normalisation of relations have to go hand in hand. You cannot do one thing without doing the other. The progress towards the European Union and solution to the Dialogue are mutually [dependent] and interacting. They require an effort, but, in the end, hard work pays off [with] great benefits for the people. I hope that this Ohrid Agreement – that was so difficult to get – will be implemented, marking the path towards normalisation and the European Union membership. I repeat: one thing requires the other.

A word about Türkiye. I worked a lot to reverse the negative spiral in our relationship. At the beginning, things were much more difficult than today. 

We have re-engaged in areas of mutual interest. In the end, Türkiye is a candidate country whose geopolitical relevance has increased much more.

In the current circumstances, Türkiye is essential. It is essential because the [current] geopolitical context is the most challenging that [we have seen] in a long time.

European citizens expect the European Union to have the capacity to act, to ensure stability and cooperation in our neighbourhood, in our surrounding areas. If we are not able to do that in our immediate neighbourhood, it is very difficult to believe that we could do that in much further parts of the world.

We are not and we will not be a bystander. Also for us, enlargement remains central to our geopolitical approach. This is a clear position of the [European] Commission, to which I have had the honour to be a member.

With this, I will pass the floor to Commissioner Olivér [Várhelyi] who will for sure give more precise and interesting details.

Remarks by Commissioner Várhelyi

Thank you very much, good afternoon. 

I think that today not only marks the last enlargement report of this Commission, but it is also worth looking back a bit at what has been achieved. We also had that discussion at the College. 

I have tried to give a broader overview for the colleagues, and I want to share it with you as well. 

If there is one thing to be made very clear - I think - from the very beginning, it is that it was this Commission that has worked relentlessly to put the issue of enlargement back on the agenda. Not only just to discuss it, but also to make progress on it. 

Together with the Member States, we have been able to deliver that. I think that enlargement is among the top three issues our leaders are discussing nowadays. 

This is not only due to the rapidly changing and challenging geopolitical landscape around us, but it is also the very fact that it is in the interest of Europe to enlarge. 

If there is one conclusion to be drawn from everything that has happened around us, it is the very confirmation of four countries who have responded to a war on our continent with an immediate response [applying to join the EU]; get in the European Union. 

They have applied for membership because they consider membership to be the long-term guarantee for peace, stability, security and prosperity. And now it is for us to show them that this is the case also in reality. 

In 2020, when we revised the enlargement methodology - and that was the first step - maybe the most difficult step, we made, I think, a very important change in the approach. 

And the main principle that we wanted to re-establish was the credibility of the whole process. Because credibility was lost somewhat on the way by messages that there will be no enlargement, by also not being able to decide on opening accession negotiations three times in a row, and also by not having a process that is capable of delivering progress in the enlargement. So, on that basis, I think we have come a very long way. 

High Representative/Vice President Borrell, already mentioned how many candidate countries we have today, how many countries are negotiating. If you look back in 2019, basically we almost doubled the numbers that we had back then. 

And we have not only new candidate countries, but we have a number of countries now negotiating for membership. We have six countries negotiating for membership with the possibility of a seventh joining - because we have a European Council decision on starting accession negotiations for Bosnia and Herzegovina as well - which shows that we have a build-up of progress, which could mean that at the end of the next mandate of the Commission, we could see enlargement happening. 

But for this to happen, it is not enough to look at the political processes, you also have to look at how the real integration, the integration on the ground goes. 

But if I only take this year - or this reporting period rather, so basically from September 2023 to September this year - what you see is not so much what the report hoped in terms of progress made, but all the decisions that, based on the new methodology, the Council has been able to do. 

Very important decisions, finally. 

You remember, back in November 2023, we made a proposal to restart our relations with Türkiye. 

We did it together with the High Representative/Vice-President. He also mentioned that we are making good progress there, and that we see now a different view emerging on both sides, bringing already direct benefits to both sides. 

In December, our proposal was endorsed by the European Council to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, and to provide candidate status to Georgia. 

In January, Kosovo citizens became visa-free travellers into the European Union. 

In March, the leaders have approved our proposal to green light the accession negotiations for Bosnia-Herzegovina, so providing the necessary decisions for moving forward with Bosnia-Herzegovina as well. 

In June, again based on our proposals, the Council has been able to have the first Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC) with both Moldova and Ukraine, and start the actual accession negotiations. 

Also in June, we had the first Intergovernmental Conference with Montenegro, where we have started the final phase of the accession negotiations, meaning that we have [paved the way to] start closing the chapters with Montenegro, opening the way to actually conclude the accession negotiations. 

And last month, or it was rather this month, we had the first cluster opened on an Intergovernmental Conference with Albania. 

This is only this year. 

I think that this is a remarkable commitment on the side of the Member States, and I am also very proud and happy to see that all our proposals have been followed through in the Council.

Now, of course, this is very interesting here in Brussels, but if you ask the people on the street in the candidate countries, they might be interested in something else, and which is when and how their countries are going to become part of our economic and social system, our welfare economy, and when and how they are going to be able to enjoy all the benefits of membership. 

And this college came a long way here as well. For us, it was a priority to have new tools at hand, to start to close this gap in terms of economic and social development between the Western Balkans and the European Union, or the Eastern neighbourhood and the European Union. 

This is why the Economic and Investment Plans have been proposed already very early in the mandate. 

In relation to the Western Balkans, we are mobilising one-third of the GDP of the entire region, €30 billion.  

And I was also very proud to present the results in terms of implementation of these plans, where I think that we are performing rather well within the European Union budget.  

When it comes to the Balkans, we are almost at 60% in terms of implementation. So, we have invested already more than €17 billion in the economies directly. 

In the case of the Southern neighbourhood, these figures are even higher - because it is 86% - if you look at the East, we are talking about roughly 77%. 

This shows that there is not only a need for the European Union to be strong on these areas and to deliver Europe now to these regions, but there is a strong uptake and strong ownership in all these three regions where we have been really active. 

And at the end of the mandate, still this year, we have also created additional tools for the Western Balkans, for Moldova and Ukraine, to actually get them up to speed in terms of reform delivery. 

This is called the Growth Plan, the Ukraine Plan, depending on the countries. 

And with the Growth Plan, we have made it possible for the Western Balkans, for Moldova, but also for Ukraine [with the Ukraine Facility], to complete the reforms and to have everything ready and to become a member by the end of the next mandate. 

I think that with these tools at hand, we have, as Commission, done our best to make the next Commission to be an enlargement Commission. 

I could dwell on the different countries, but maybe let's leave it to the questions. 

I have been talking already too much. 

Thank you.