The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has become the first institution of the European Union to admit members from candidate countries. The new members were appointed and on February 15, they participated for the first time in a plenary session of this committee.
Present at the ceremony for this initiative in Brussels, besides the President of the EESC, Oliver Ropke, was also the Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, and that of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, who come from two candidate countries for EU membership.
The EESC deals with social and economic issues, and representatives of civil society, trade unions, employers, and various industrial sectors participate in this committee. In the EU, this institution has an advisory role.
The members of this committee, coming from candidate countries, will actively participate in the work of the EESC and will be equal to their colleagues from EU member states. However, they will not have the right to vote.
Nine candidate countries have been admitted to this committee, and Kosovo remains outside, a state involved in the enlargement process but the only one in the Western Balkans that formally does not have the status of a candidate country for EU membership.
According to the President of the EESC, Oliver Ropke, the formal condition for inclusion in this committee is the attainment of the candidate country status, which Kosovo does not have.
This committee has admitted Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine as members. All these states are formally candidate countries for membership in the European bloc.
Ropke said that this initiative marks an important step towards the gradual integration of candidate countries before they formally join the EU. He expects colleagues from these countries to bring valuable experience to the work of the institution he leads.
European Commissioner Vera Jourova said that EU enlargement is a common interest, a two-way street that benefits both candidate countries and the EU. She called on candidate countries to focus on democratic values and move towards the EU by respecting common values, especially the rule of law and freedom of the media.
There have been more than 600 candidates from candidate countries to be appointed to this committee.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić expressed readiness for their countries to work towards gradual integration into the EU, not as a substitute for full membership but only as a path towards formal membership.
Rama called for other EU institutions, namely the European Parliament, the Commission, and the Council, to follow the example of the EESC. According to the Albanian Prime Minister, this would show people in the Western Balkans that EU integration is real and would avoid entering cycles of good intentions that do not produce concrete results.
Rama, mentioning the impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on increasing support for the enlargement process, said that we should not wait for another aggression to move forward in this process.
