The EU and EU member ambassadors agreed yesterday (7th) local time to begin the review process for EU membership applications submitted by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, AFP news agency reported.
Officials from France, which presides over the EU touring in the first half of this year, said their ambassadors had agreed to ask the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, to comment on the three countries' applications for membership.
It can take years for the EU Commission to comment.
The Commission's comments will be evaluated by EU member states to determine whether or not to grant the applicant country candidate EU accession status.
This requires the unanimous consent of member states.
If the applicant country obtains the status of a candidate country for EU accession by meeting the preparations or conditions for accession, it will be verified whether it is willing and able to accept and implement EU laws, and implement reform measures in line with the standards necessary for accession in the judicial, administrative and economic sectors. You should.
Acquisition of Candidate status does not initiate accession negotiations and requires the governments of all 27 EU member states to agree.
Even after negotiations, approval of accession requires the support of all EU member governments, the EU Commission and the European Parliament, as well as ratification by the respective member parliaments.
The process of EU accession usually takes years and can be difficult and feasible, as it requires unanimous approval from all 27 member states only to initiate accession negotiations.
EU member states will discuss these issues at an informal meeting to be held in France on the 10th-11th.
The move follows the fact that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had been invaded by Russia, officially requested for his country to join the EU on the 28th of last month, and Georgia and Moldova, which belonged to the former Soviet Union, also applied for EU membership one after another.
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