Activities of Gilles LEBRETON related to 2023/2114(INI)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (24)
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8
Citation 8
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas eight out of the ten countries currently aspiring to join the EU have candidate status, some of them since many years ago due to the fact that they are still a long way from the common values of the Member States and the Copenhagen criteria; whereas those candidate countries find themselves at various stages of the accession process and negotiations; whereas the countries of the Western Balkans have for decades stated their determination to join the EU; whereas candidate status has also recently been granted to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova despite the fact that they are, respectively, war-torn and secession- ridden and thus pose a serious threat to the stability of the EU;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine hasshould not be used as a pretext to given new geostrategic meaning to the enlargement of the European Union; whereas enlargement is a strategic geopolitical investment in the future, which can be mutually beneficial for both existing and future Member States if the proper conditions are metdesperate headlong rush which aims to overcome political and economic divisions in Europe;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas accession to the EU must always be a merit-based procedure whereby each applicant is assessed on their own merit in fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria, in particular those of ensuring full respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law; whereas positive outcomes should be sought as quickly as possible, while avoiding fast-tracking, which the EU has systematically introduced, notably in the case of Ukraine and Moldova, or counterproductive fixed deadlines;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the parallel processes of widening and deepenenlargement process must not be instrumentalised to underminge the Union must go hand in handsovereignty of the Member States;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas candidate countries must also demonstrate their adherence to the fundamental values of the EU by aligning with the common foreign and security policycommon values of the Member States, but whereas this process must not in any way involve their submission to the strategic policy which is currently defined by the European Union and is, moreover, likely to vary in the future, with all of these countries retaining control of their political orientations, within or outside the EU; whereas the EU no longer takes into account the criteria of economic rigour and internal political stability, but uses enlargement as a geopolitical tool to cement the membership of certain countries in the Euro-Atlantic camp, thereby exacerbating the bloc mentality and aggravating global tensions, while putting at risk the economic, political and social stability of existing Member States;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the role of the European Parliament should be strengthen throughout the entire enlargement proceshas no decision-making competence or any legitimacy in the area of foreign affairs, a competence reserved for the Council and the Member States;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas under the current institutional framework, the EU already faces considerable challenges in crisis management and strategic decision- making; whereas it is clear that the EU institutions and decision-making mechanisms were not designed for a Union that could be composed of up to 37 Member States; whereas before the next enlargement takes place, significant pre- enlargement reforms are needed to guarantee that the EU is able to absorb new members and to promote their successful integration; whereas this implies significant it is clear, therefore, that such anges in the EU’s institutional framework, including to decision-making procedures, and the possible introduction of differentiated integration solutions; whereas in order to achieve this, the EU should take full advantage of the flexibility afforded by the Treaty of Lisbon and consider the possibility of treaty change, including via adaptations introduced by the accession treaties enlargement cannot and should not take place;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas enlargement is also a major challenge for EU’s financial sustainability, in particular regarding cohesion and agriculture policies; whereas the current and the next multiannual financial frameworks should be strengthened considerably to enable EU enlargement; whereas this financial groundwork must be in place before enlargement takes placequestions the advisability of the EU continuing to finance the candidate countries, in particular those whose procedure has been suspended without any prospect of being restarted;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Council to strongly condemn Türkiye’s hostile geopolitical behaviour in the eastern Mediterranean and to terminate Türkiye’s EU accession negotiations, as well as all EU funding and programmes relating to Türkiye’s EU accession;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that enlargement is of the utmost strategic importance for the EU, and all the more so in the face of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; stresses that an enhanced enlargement policy has become the strongest geopolitical tool at the EU’s disposal; points out that enlargement is a strategic investment in peace, security and prosperity, as well as a driver for democracy and European values on the continentnot necessary for a European Union already subject to significant political, economic and democratic tensions, in particular as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; stresses that an enhanced enlargement policy would only weaken the EU by adding to its instability and increasing the demographic and economic volumes affected by internal European difficulties; stresses that, in this regard, enlargement amounts to a headlong rush akin to a Ponzi scheme in which the inflow of new entrants is intended to offset the scheme’s inherent imbalances;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Acknowledges the historic challenge facing the EU of meeting its commitments to the countries in the Western Balkans and to Ukraine and the Republic of MoldovaRecognises that incorporating the countries of the Western Balkans would jeopardise the economic, social and migration situations in the Member States; stresses that Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are, respectively, war-torn and secession-ridden and would therefore pose a serious threat to the stability of the EU if they were to join;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Maintains its view that the integration of the Western Balkans is contrary to the interests of the Member States and the European nations; recalls, in this regard, the study carried out in 2019 by the European Council on Foreign Relations, which confirmed that the majority of the Member States’ citizens do not support expanding the EU to include the countries of the Western Balkans1 a; _________________ 1 a https://eupinions.eu/de/blog/eu- citizens-remain-against-further- enlargement
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that accession to the EU must always be a merit-based procedure and that each applicant must be assessed on their own merit in fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria and in ensuring full respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law; stresses that while positive outcomes should be sought as quickly as possible, there should be no fast-track or fixed deadlines for membership; underscores that there can be no short-cuts on fundamental values; points out that alignment with the common foreign and security policy is also a way of showing full adherence to the EU’s fundamental principles and an important indicator for sustainable future membershipStresses that fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria must take precedence over geostrategic alignment with the EU;
Amendment 314 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for a robust monitoring mechanism for the reforms and progress made by the candidate countries; urges, in particular, the setting up of a specific and effective monitoring mechanism for protecting fundamental values and the financial interests of the UnionMember States in the context of accession procedures; reiterates in this regard its calls to include candidate countries in the EU rule of law mechanism and its annual reporting exercise, automatically activating pre- accession cooperation and verification mechanisms;
Amendment 327 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 354 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 370 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Points out that European institutional reforms must include simplified decision-making procedures, moving away from unanimity and replacing it with qualified majority voting provisions in areas such as the protection of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, sanctions and relevant foreign policy decisionunanimity in the Council must be maintained for all decisions relating to foreign, security and defence policy issues as well as in all other areas where it exists;
Amendment 396 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Believes that creating differentiated integration is part of the solution for an efficient and deepened enlarged EU; underlines, however, that respect for the Union’s values as set out in Article 2 TEU should not be subject to any derogations or opt-outs; considers also that a broad area of European common ground must always be ensured, covering areas such as the Customs Union, the single market and its four freedoms, the core social acquis, and agricultural, competition and trade policies; notes that beyond this common ground, Member States willing to move European integration forward should be allowed to do so; underlines that under such a system of differentiated integration, while all Member States would take part in decisions about issues in the area of common ground, only Member Statestatuses between EU Member States, a proposal which would be contrary both to the letter of the Treaties and to the very spirit of the Union, is out of the question; considers that it would be unacceptable and hypocritical for certain countries to be subject to identical requirements whilling to participate in areas of deepened integration would take part in the decisions concerned; notes that differentiated integration also implies differentiated financial arrangementse being granted lower levels of integration;
Amendment 404 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 415 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 427 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 444 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses that enlargement is a major financial challenge for the EU, in particular regarding cohesion and agriculture policies; point out that this challenge cannot be met without a larger EU budget and sufficient own resources; notes that this adds to growing demands on EU funding in the fields of financial stability, health, energy, decarbonisation, digital, research and defence and security; underlines that such financial reforms must be discussed in parallel with the ongoing accession negotiations and adopted before enlargement takes place; defends its position that the current and future multiannual financial frameworks should be strengthened considerably to enable EU enlargement, and that this financial groundwork must be in place before enlargement takes placequestions the desirability of integrating poor corruption-prone countries into a Union in the midst of an economic, political and social crisis;