EU Diplomats Fail to Agree on Balkan Accession Negotiations

(Bloomberg) -- Ambassadors representing European Union governments failed Wednesday to agree on whether the bloc should open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, two people familiar with the meeting said.

The envoys will debate the matter again on Friday, before a ministerial meeting next week in Luxembourg, where a decision is due to be taken, the officials said, asking not to be named because the deliberations aren’t public. While most member states agree to formally begin accession negotiations, France still has reservations and other countries want conditions attached, especially for Albania, the officials said.

At Wednesday’s meeting, France went as far as questioning the entire “methodology” of the enlargement process, demanding a postponement of the decision until the bloc revises the process, the officials said.

The diplomats convened to discuss a draft communique, seen by Bloomberg, paving the way for the launch of accession negotiations. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, as well as European Council President Donald Tusk, also back the start of the process.

Persistent disagreements mean the communique’s wording will change before next Tuesday’s meeting of EU ministers. The ministers themselves may have to make the call if their diplomats fail to reach consensus before then.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nikos Chrysoloras in Brussels at nchrysoloras@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley

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