BRUSSELS – On 14 July, the EU is going to hold as many as four intergovernmental conferences – with Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova. For the first time, Albania will provissionally close three negotiating chapters – Chapter 25 (Science and Research), Chapter 26 (Education and Culture), and Chapter 30 (External
EWB
BRUSSELS – On 14 July, the EU is going to hold as many as four intergovernmental conferences – with Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova. For the first time, Albania will provissionally close three negotiating chapters – Chapter 25 (Science and Research), Chapter 26 (Education and Culture), and Chapter 30 (External Relations), while Montenegro will provisionally close two chapters – Chapter 8 (Competition Policy) and Chapter 29 (Customs Union).
On the same day, both Ukraine and Moldova will open Cluster 6 (External Relations) during two separate third accession conferences. Euronews reminds that the decision leaves four clusters still pending – Cluster 2 (Internal Market), Cluster 3 (Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth), Cluster 4 (Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity), and Cluster 5 (Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion).
According to the media reports, the European Commission considers both Ukraine and Moldova to be technically ready to open all of them, which means it is up to politics to determine the next steps.
When it comes to the EU accession path of Serbia, Cluster 3 can technically still be opened by the end of July, but it remains highly unlikely. While the European Commission has pushed for it, consensus has not been reached in the European Council due to opposition from some EU member states.
Several diplomatic sources have unofficially stated that at least seven EU countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, and the Baltic states, are opposed, citing the rule of law and Serbia’s failure to align with EU sanctions against Russia. Unanimous consent from all 27 member states is mandatory to open the cluster.
