THE Irish government has underlined that it supports EU enlargement – raising expectations it would help ease an independent Scotland’s future membership.
Minister of foreign affairs Simon Coveney set out the Republic’s view on the bloc expanding in a written parliamentary answer to a question lodged in the Dail by Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond.
“Ireland has always been, and will remain, a strong supporter of enlargement of the European Union, provided that candidate countries meet the necessary conditions for membership,” said the minister concluding that “Ireland will continue to support the enlargement process” and accession negotiations.
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Several states in the Western Balkans, including Serbia, Albania and Kosovo, are all hoping to join the EU but Coveney drew attention to a number of internal challenges they faced before they could gain entry.
Coveney pointed to the publication last month of the European Commission’s annual Enlargement Package and country reports and how progress was being made, or not, by Western Balkans states.
“In terms of the progress of individual Western Balkan countries, Serbia and Montenegro are both currently negotiating chapters of the Acquis with the EU,” said the minister.
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“Serbia has opened negotiations on 18 chapters, with two provisionally closed. Montenegro has opened all chapters and provisionally closed three. The country reports for 2020 assessed both Serbia and Montenegro as having both made limited progress. Serbia needs to accelerate its reforms in areas such as governance, rule of law and media freedom and make significant progress in the normalisation of relations with Kosovo, while Montenegro must address shortcomings in the areas of media freedom, fight against corruption and trafficking, and turn its attention to the closing of chapters.
“Regarding North Macedonia and Albania, it was agreed by the European Council in March 2020 to open negotiations with both countries ... Kosovo is a potential candidate for membership of the EU. The Commission’s report on Kosovo in 2020 noted that the political situation in Kosovo remains challenging ... It will be some time before Kosovo can qualify as a candidate country. “
He concluded: “Ireland will continue to support the enlargement process and accession negotiations to the EU.”
Responding to the minister, Richmond told The National: “The EU is not a closed club, growing the Union is an important strategic aim for the entire region, an aim the Irish Government is extremely enthusiastic about.
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“If the UK were to decide to reverse Brexit and apply to return to the EU, it would be in everyone’s interest for this to be facilitated. Indeed, hypothetically, if the Scottish people were to choose to be independent, there would be no political obstacles to them joining the EU once they met the Copenhagen criteria.”
The Irish Government’s intervention on EU enlargement comes just weeks after Conservative strategists said the UK should ask the EU to intervene and say that an independent Scotland could not join in a bid to scupper Scottish independence.
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