European Parliament President Metsola spoke out against replacing Ukraine’s membership with "associated" formats
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has stated that the EU must match the pace of Ukraine’s reforms and not use interim integration models to delay membership.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, she made this statement at the GLOBSEC security conference in Prague.
"If someone had told us that a country at war because it had been attacked would be able to catch up so impressively on the volume of legislative and technical work that takes other countries ten years! So we cannot turn away without responding to this pace with equal speed," Metsola remarked.
According to her, the European Union must not only recognise Ukraine’s progress but also take practical decisions that will give candidate countries the sense that their efforts have not been in vain.
"It is my responsibility to say that yes, enlargement is merit-based; no one questions that, step by step. But let’s open the first clusters. Let’s take the step necessary for these countries and their people so that they can say: ‘We didn’t do all this for nothing’," urged the EP President.
Metsola also warned against a situation where discussions about various formats or interim models of integration effectively become a way of keeping candidate countries outside the EU for a long time.
She acknowledged that various intermediate stages are possible – in particular, joining specific areas of cooperation such as the single market, the customs union, the roaming zone, or the Erasmus or Horizon exchange programmes. At the same time, she said, this cannot replace a political decision on Ukraine’s future membership.
"We simply need to do what we have to do, look at what opportunities exist, and not use various models as an excuse to 'park' countries indefinitely, because that is another risk we face. But this must not come at the expense of the fundamental decision that has been taken – that Ukraine will join the EU. I won’t mention any dates, as that is not within the European Parliament’s remit, but I wanted to emphasise this clearly," Metsola stressed.
She also recalled that following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the European Parliament overwhelmingly supported the prospect of Ukraine and Moldova joining the EU, and this position was subsequently confirmed by the heads of state and government of the European Union.
What preceded this?
- As a reminder, it was reported yesterday that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is reportedly proposing to grant Ukraine the status of an "associate member" of the EU prior to full membership.
- French Minister Delegate for European Affairs Benjamin Addad had also previously suggested that the EU might offer Ukraine an interim status, which would allow for a gradual rapprochement with European policies and institutions.
- In response to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s proposal to grant Ukraine the new status of "associate member" of the EU prior to full membership , the European Commission stated that it welcomed such a discussion among member states.
