Brussels – The idea of ​​creating a “European political community” launched this week by French president Emmanuel Macron as a prelude to countries seeking to join the European Union (EU), such as Ukraine, has been received with particular interest. , but also with a warning about the frustration it can cause.

Offering a place in the “European political community”, which remains to be determined, is what Macron is proposing for Ukraine, but not only for the country, as an alternative to the lengthy process of joining a club that requires adherence to demanding European deals.

A difficult process in which Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, which was implemented in 1987, have sunk over the years, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates. And now, after Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, this country and the former Soviet republics Georgia and Moldova have been pressing to become candidates for accession to the European Union.

special division or second division At the extraordinary European Summit on May 30 and 31 in Brussels, Macron will be able to explain to his colleagues his ideas for a “new European organization” that he launched on Europe Day in his speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This structure would allow for incorporating countries such as Ukraine, which share EU values, into a “new space for political and security cooperation”, but also in areas such as transport, energy or the movement of people.

From the outset, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to the Secretary General of the European People’s Party, Antonio López-Istúriz, as it would allow for good political-economic relations from proximity to countries that would not enter. European Union. But he warned that the proposal should be “very well profiled” and “provide it with content so that there is no confusion with neighboring countries with aspirations to be part of the European wonder”, and he hoped it would not become a “mechanism”. so maybe there won’t be any more zooming.

Socialist MEP Nacho Sánchez Amor moves on the same interpretation, members such as López-Istúriz of the European Parliament’s Foreign Commission, whose plenary session supported Ukraine being accepted as a candidate for the European Union.

“This offer creates a kind of prelude for the EU to accommodate various situations and it may not be appropriate” as it could cause “frustration in public opinion if the reading they take is to cool down enthusiasm or prospects” of entering the EU, according to Sánchez Amor.

The MEP asked Macron to accompany his federalist and European speeches with a phased procedure that would allow France’s chair on the UN Security Council to be European.

Lead analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute, Ignacio Molina, sees two different approaches to the proposal, which he says is a “good formula”. On the one hand, he acknowledged that it was understandable that Macron was a “kind of spoiler” who had come to “calm the momentum” and that he would be linked to “the French DNA that doesn’t like enlargement”, which has always been the opposite, of General Charles de Gaulle against the door. enter England. he

special relationship

Formula for English

I, I, I Alternative. A space of special relations where countries that have left, such as Britain, or those that are in, such as Hungary, can also enter in the future and who “give a lot of trouble” and to whom they can show “the way out” to the “second division”, which would reduce its “extortion capacity”, explained Molina, who acknowledged Macron’s “honesty” in putting Ukraine in front of a mirror that express accession was impossible. The fast track Ukraine demanded, backed by Poland and the Balts, clashed with caution not only from France but also many others, as it did not meet all the basic requirements, and also aroused suspicion in the candidates.

Date

30

Dinner on May 30 at the Extraordinary Summit in Brussels will be where France’s newly re-elected president, Emmanuel Macron, will present his formula to other leaders.

Key

open

Not exclusive. After clarifying that this community will also be open to countries that have left the EU (such as the United Kingdom) and that joining it will not prevent further accession to the Union, Macron intends Europe based on its geography and democratic values​​​​​​​with a desire to maintain the unity of our continent”, in addition to “preserving our integration strengths and ambitions”.

Step

There is no institutional reform. The European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Europe will now examine how to act on the proposals, each within the framework of their powers. Next fall, an event will be held to inform residents of how the agency is responding to their demands. According to Macron, many ideas can be implemented without the need for institutional reform.