«The EU accession process, an effective tool of the European foreign and security policy »

Ladies and Gentlemen, Honourable Members of the Parliament,

Thank you very much for this opportunity to share with you some thoughts about EU enlargement. I can only fully support the aim of NATO Parliamentary Assembly to foster inter-parliamentary dialogue on major security issues. There is a clear link to enlargement as the EU accession process is an effective tool of the European foreign and security policy.

I have just returned from the Western Balkans where we visited six cities in three days with Commission President José Manuel Barroso. It was a most useful visit and gave us an opportunity to pass the key messages to the political leaders on issues like the ICTY cooperation, the Kosovo status process, trade and economy. The EU perspective keeps the Western Balkan countries on a peaceful and reformist track.

The power of the European Union lies mostly in its soft power. Joseph S. Nye has defined soft power as «the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion». This describes correctly the philosophy of EU accession process. By extending the zone of peace and democracy, the EU has achieved far more through its gravitational pull than it could have achieved by a stick or a sword.

Of course, we must use the soft power in manageable doses. We must avoid an overstretch. That is why we must underline absorption capacity as a critical parameter of enlargement policy.

The EU and NATO accession processes are separate but they feature some parallels. Both are merit-driven processes. Both the EU and NATO share the common goal of a free and secure Europe. These goals and processes are mutually reinforcing.

Because of these parallels, I particularly welcome your interest in the EU enlargement. As the EU Commissioner for enlargement, it is my duty to ensure a carefully managed accession process that extends peace and stability, the rule of law and democracy, prosperity and solidarity across Europe.

The trademark of EU enlargement strategy today is consolidation. This means that the EU will be cautious about taking any new commitments, but we must keep our word with respect to the existing commitments.

The second element of our strategy is fair and rigorous conditionality. Candidate countries must fulfil all the legal, political and economic conditions before they can join the Union.

Rigorous conditionality combined with the incentive of a credible EU perspective provides the EU with a strong leverage for reforms in the candidate countries. Conditionality works, as shown in the profound democratic and economic transformation undergone by the ten new member states. It is also shown by recent events where a certain General Ante Gotovina is behind the bars in the Hague, whereas a certain novelist Orhan Pamuk is a free man to express his views.

The final component of our enlargement strategy is bettercommunication. We should not make enlargement the scapegoat for our domestic ills of slow economic growth and high unemployment, but rather give it the credit it deserves. Myths and perceptions aside, it is a success story. So far, both the Commission and European leaders have been better at doing enlargement than at communicating it!

The current enlargement agenda covers Southeast Europe and consists of the Balkans and Turkey, as defined by the EU leaders in the European Councils.

The Treaty of Accession with Bulgaria and Romania has been signed and now needs to be ratified by all EU Member States. I hope for your support in your parliaments for the ratification. The Accession Treaty includes the rigorous monitoring mechanism and safeguard clauses, which have encouraged both countries to undertake a significant reform drive, especially in reforming the judiciary and in fight against crime and corruption.

In May, the Commission will reassess the situation and may recommend membership in 2007, or postponing accession until 2008, if needed. The decision will be made by the June European Council.

The opening of accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia last October made quite some headlines. The negotiations are now well on track. But this is more of a technical process, on the surface. The foundation of the accession process is real reforms, on the ground.

The accession negotiations with Turkey are bound to be a long and winding road. It is also a road where the journey is at least as important as the destination. By journey I mean the reforms that aim at transforming Turkey to a country that fully respects and applies the rule of law and other European values, in all walks of life and in all corners of the country.

Turkey’s membership is in our strategic interest, if it can meet all the accession criteria. Owing to its political and economic potential, and NATO membership, Turkey can make a major contribution to regional and international stability.

Turkey has played a constructive and moderating role in the «cartoons crisis». A European Turkey that respects human rights and the rule of law can be an even sturdier bridge between Europe and the Islamic world.

NATO’s Membership Action Plans are equivalent to the EU accession negotiations, preparing for a possible future membership. All three NATO «MAP countries» are also firmly on their way to the European Union. Croatia is negotiating on its accession, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was granted candidate country status last December, and with Albania I initialled last week the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which is now ready for the signature.

The countries of the Western Balkans have a medium- to long-term perspective of EU membership. Stabilisation and Association Agreements are the first contractual relationship between the EU and the countries of the Western Balkans. Last year we began negotiations on the Association Agreements with Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. These Agreements are for the EU accession process something like the Partnership for Peace is for NATO.

In Belgrade and Sarajevo, President Barroso and I emphasised that it is absolutely crucial to cooperate fully with the Hague Tribunal and to bring the remaining indictees Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic to justice. If there is not full cooperation with the ICTY, we cannot conclude the negotiations on the Association Agreements.

The European perspective is a two-way street. Countries themselves need to create the rule of law and a level playing field for economy. This spring we shall focus on measures that pave the way for economic development in the Western Balkans, which is a priority of the Austrian EU Presidency.

For the economy, creating a regional free trade area is an important development. Currently we have six countries and 31 bilateral agreements. We aim at introducing visa facilitation in order to remove unnecessarily burdensome visa issuing procedures. But in return, the countries must ensure they have the capacity to reinforce readmission agreements, reliable visa issuing procedures and border control systems.

Despite all these improvements, there are still important challenges ahead, such as the settlement of Kosovo’s future status. The negotiations are led by the UN Status Envoy, President Martti Ahtisaari. The European Union plays an important role in the process and in the post-status international presence. We need to get both Belgrade and Pristina engaged in Kosovo status talks. We are committed to a lasting, sustainable solution to create a stable, democratic and truly multi-ethnic Kosovo. Status comes with standards related to protection of minorities and historical and cultural sites. This was also our message last week.

There is a general agreement that the international community will continue to have some - albeit limited - supervisory function in Kosovo. We need our international partners to stay engaged: in particular, NATO’s continued presence is key for the stability and security in Kosovo.

The European Union is exercising its soft power fairly successfully. But we cannot overlook military power. The war in Bosnia is a cruel reminder of the possibility of war and ethnic conflict in Europe. When the war broke out, the Europe and the West were fairly powerless. The Europeans ended up arguing among themselves and with the Americans about what to do and who had responsibility. It was not an industrial inter-state war but a war amongst the people, as General Sir Rupert Smith aptly described in his recent book, The Utility of Force - the Art of War in the Modern World.

The European Union then realised that it had to start to develop common foreign and security policy and related instruments in order to be able to respond to international crisis. The Western Balkans became a laboratory to implement the EU’s foreign and security policy.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, NATO’s peacekeeping forces brought stability, facilitated refugee return and paved the way for civilian operations. Thanks to the stability achieved, in ten years we have been able to cut the level of troops from 60.000 to 6.000.

In December 2004, the EU took over the NATO-led SFOR-operation. This is the most challenging mission for us today under the European Security and Defence Policy. The operation is carried out with recourse to NATO assets and capabilities, on the basis of the «Berlin Plus» arrangement. This experience provides us with a solid foundation to further develop cooperation and coordination between the EU and NATO.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Europe has never been as free, secure and prosperous as it is today. However, Bosnia and Kosovo remind us that the possibility of war has not disappeared. Therefore, even more intense cooperation between the EU and NATO is needed in conflict prevention and crisis management, both military and civilian.

Nonetheless, today’s security threats are generally more diverse, less visible and also less predictable. Terrorism, energy security and avian flu are also security threats today. The EU has a wide range of instruments at its disposal to respond to these challenges. The European Union of 450 million people is a strong global player.

Likewise, NATO continues to transform its role in the new security environment. NATO’s urgent relief effort the context of the Pakistani earthquake is an important example of this new role and responsibility.

The EU and NATO have the same underlining principle: we export peace and stability rather than import conflict and instability.

The EU’s strength lies primarily in its soft power. But as NATO‘s Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said recently: «I want to see a strong and vibrant European Union. I want it to grow in partnership with NATO as a major security actor.» I fully subscribe to that view, and return the expression of will of partnership.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your questions.

Mr Olli Rehn

Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enlargement

NATO Parliamentary Assembly Brussels, 21 February 2006

SPEECH/06/112

Source : http://europa.eu.int/