Candidate countries must sync and blend with the EU, argues EESC’s Dimitris Dimitriadis

To catch the enlargement train, EU candidate countries must run simultaneously with the European Union, argues the EESC’s Dimitris Dimitriadis. He says responsibility for an increasing Western Balkans' disillusionment with the EU is shared.

Dimitriadis, President of the External Relations Section of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), spoke with Euractiv’s Xhoi Zajmi on the Western Balkans’ EU perspective, EESC’s work with civil society, European elections and the malign influence of external disinformation campaigns.

XZ: On 15 February, the EESC became the first EU institution to accept members from candidate countries. What does this mean to the EESC and the new members?

DD: It was a new initiative from President Oliver Röpke, called the Enlargement Candidate Members’ (ECMs) Initiative, to slowly open the doors to candidate countries, so that they can understand how European institutions work.

We want to hear from the civil society of the candidate countries, to take into account their opinion on the proposals for EU legislation, and how different EU initiatives resonate with the political and economic situation in their countries.

The EESC had the possibility to do this, because we are not a very bureaucratic institution, and we ensure links between EU institutions and the society in general. We believe in the success of this initiative and I hope candidate members will bring our spirit and values back to their countries.

XZ: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama called for other EU institutions to follow the same example. Is that feasible? Can it keep up the spirits, especially in the Western Balkan countries that eagerly await to join the EU?

DD: I have been working in Brussels for 25 years, and this is not so easy. I do not know if the Parliament has this kind of flexibility, but for sure neither the Council nor the Commission do. These two institutions have more rigid rules in terms of functioning and participation. Maybe the Committee of the Regions, which is very similar to the EESC, can do it.

XZ: Kosovo was the only Western Balkan country to be left out of the EESC, due to not having an official candidate status. Will the country be granted admission once that happens? Do you see opposition, perhaps from Serbia?

DD: The EESC is an advisory body to the European Council, the European Commission, and the Parliament. We have decided to apply this project to countries with a candidate status, not yet to potential candidates.

But we do not forget Kosovo. We regularly talk to civil society there, most recently during our High-Level Conference in Ljubljana on May 24. We had a dedicated mission to Kosovo last year, on the state of play of civil society and we saw that the civil society in the country is very active and vibrant.

We are following the situation. Our approach is not political; it is based on the status of the country in the enlargement process.

XZ: How far have candidate countries come when it comes to EU accession? Has the process been fair or dragging? Is there still goodwill for these countries to join?

DD: The EU made a lot of mistakes and we lost a lot of time during the last decade in advancing enlargement to the Western Balkans. But, it takes two to tango and candidate countries should also do their homework. All of them! They still need to fulfil the criteria to become members.

It is not possible to become members without basic reforms, starting with the rule of law, judiciary reform, efficient protection of fundamental rights, and alignment of legislations in various domains, including with the EU’s foreign and security policy.

I am Greek and I know the region very well. I get angry when I hear Western Balkans citizens say it is only the EU's fault and we are not keeping our promises. The responsibility for the current situation is shared.

XZ: But the EU could have accepted countries and helped them become better. Instead, now candidates have to tick all boxes before joining.

DD: We live in a totally different Europe now. At the time of the big enlargement, I was in Brussels. The economic and financial perspective of the EU was completely different. Now, the whole picture has dramatically changed.

We are now a very bureaucratic system. Countries have a veto system that can block procedures at any time, for any reason. The veto is logical if someone uses it according to logical situations, but not if someone uses it for political reasons.

Candidate countries must run together with the EU. Society in the region is losing hope for the future. A few years ago, the majority of the populations were largely in favour of accession. Looking at the numbers now, the situation is different. We must not forget that other powers in the world are trying to strengthen their influence in the Western Balkans.

XZ: What are the main challenges civil societies from candidate members identify when it comes to the accession process?

DD: Usually, they transfer their agony about the future of the negotiations. They identify internal problems: transparency, rule of law, and lots of local and domestic issues. However, the issue is that we have also not resolved all problems, and we are not completely prepared for accession.

XZ: Turning to EU elections and Russia’s disinformation campaigns, do you find any Western Balkan countries to be prone to it? How might they influence the region?

DD: Disinformation is one of the main priorities of our Committee. We understand that disinformation changes the political environment in the EU but also in the candidate countries. Unfortunately, this happens.

The systemic dissemination of fake news aims to confuse the public and to make people lose confidence in political institutions, credible sources of information, health authorities, science and academic research. We have started a campaign called “Citizens can defeat disinformation”.

Society must be ready to react to this kind of disinformation, and it is necessary to be ready to understand the propaganda from other sides. It is not only Russia, which is obvious.

The solution is only one, Europeans must vote for Europe in the June elections! We need a strong ‘pro-European’ Parliament. We need the new parliamentarians to be pro-European. We need the Parliament to continue promoting the European values of democracy and the rule of law. This is the only solution!

[By Xhoi Zajmi I Edited by Brian Maguire | Euractiv's Advocacy Lab ]