The realism is that Ukraine still has a long way to go to become a full member of the EU. The Europe Letter brings together the week’s key EU issues in one package. You can order the entire letter from the link at the end of your email.
Do you know what significance the British EU difference in brexit has for Ukraine? If Britain were still a member, Ukraine’s entry into the EU could be accelerated.
EU countries have traditionally had differing views on the pace at which the Union makes sense to expand.
Roughly speaking, these are the extremes: those that are in favor of ever-deepening cooperation, and those that would be sufficient for the current kind of internal market. The effectiveness of the Union’s common policy is not as important to the latter as it is to the former.
WHEN FRANCE AND OTHERS The original founding members of the EU have been sticking to the wheel of enlargement, especially in recent years, with the biggest fear being the growing inefficiency of the Union. The 2004 enlargement to the east has caused a great deal of backlog, as Hungary and Poland, for example, proved to be difficult to co-operate.
As an EU member, Britain was solid in its enlargements supporter (switching to another service). One of its motives was to dam and dissolve the power of Brussels. The more countries, the more decentralized power.
IN EUROPE In some discussions, experts have been arguing in recent days about what kind of message about Ukraine’s EU membership should be made public.
According to the French Presidency, Ukraine will be a member of the EU in the future, but not for at least ten years. This is the case, for example, with the director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute Kristi Raik considers it a bad attitude (you switch to another service). He would like Ukraine to be encouraged by the message of membership as soon as possible.
Below is an example of a discussion in which experts from different countries come together. A British scholar criticizes the French diplomat for “strange firing” when he says that France has always pushed for an effective but limited community – and Britain has won because it supported the widest possible EU. The French diplomat gets chat (switching to another service) majority support.
AFTER Finland, Sweden and Austria joined the EU in 1995, and the process has become more and more difficult. Finland became a member in less than three years of submitting the application, after ten years in Croatia and 12 years in Bulgaria.
Where Finland had to comply with the rules in 29 different areas, the current candidates, such as Northern Macedonia and Montenegro, are required to implement Chapter 35. There are already laws, declarations, agreements, judgments that need to be transposed into national law 130,000 (switch to another service) pages if not more.
UKRAINE IS a war-torn country whose society has been crushed. The country’s leadership and also the EU will have to work hard on reconstruction. The question is, how are the forces enough for the workers’ EU negotiations to take place at the same time?
However, when almost all member states want Ukraine to move closer to the EU, the model for cooperation will be discussed next. The French Presidency would offer Ukraine some kind of political alliance during the long accession negotiations. So far, Finland has supported the deepening of co-operation with Ukraine association agreement (you move to another service) about.
Ukraine has applied for membership. On Wednesday, a special assistant to the country’s president visited Helsinki to seek support for the effort. Already next month, the Commission will give its own assessment of Ukraine’s candidacy.
Read below for my compilation of burning European topics.
FACT: Russian gas will determine the rise in prices in Europe towards the end of the year
THE PRICES ARE RISING now so rudely that even non-motorists feel it in their wallets. Russia has cut off gas supplies to Europe when energy companies refuse to pay for their gas purchases in rubles. The last time this happened to Finland was on a Saturday morning, here you can read more about it.
The Commission forecasts an average inflation rate of just over 6% this year. If Russian gas imports to the EU cease completely, the rise in prices could accelerate to close to 10%.
NEXT WEEK: Summit decides on new aid for Ukraine and considers ways to stop inflation
EARLY WEEK The EU summit is due to decide on a new EUR 9 billion in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. As a result of the Russian war of aggression, the revenue of the Ukrainian state has collapsed. Direct support aims to keep society going. The United States has clearly decided to increase its aid to Ukraine, but the main responsibility for future reconstruction lies with the EU.
MONDAY AND TUESDAY the President of Ukraine will rise to the meeting table Volodymyr Zelensky and the proposal by the Baltic states, among others, that the EU investigate the use of confiscated funds from the Russians for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Finland supports the idea, but finds it legally difficult to implement.
STATES AND GOVERNMENTS leaders are also discussing ways to secure Ukraine’s grain supplies to the world and to support future growth in the midst of war. Grain has also been lost as a prey to Russia. Ukraine’s grain supply is a critical issue, especially in developing countries in Africa and the Middle East. The summit considers what EU support could be done to prevent rising food prices and a direct shortage of cereals.
FOLLOW THE SUMMIT events on ‘s various channels! On the spot in Brussels are the correspondent Rikhard Husu and EU Special Editor Janne Toivonen.
You can discuss topics until 11 p.m. Saturday night.