BRUSSELS – On 12 December, the EU ministers adopted conclusions on enlargement but without recommendations for the opening accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, or granting candidate status for Georgia. Discussion and potential decision on this matter is left to the European Council, which is meeting later this week, on December 14-15 December.
According to procedures, the ministers harmonize their stances on a matter, and decisions are passed formally by the heads of governments i.e. European Council.
According to Radio Free Europe, in the first drafts of the conclusions, the decision on Bosnia was also conditional, where the country was expected to meet all the conditions. On the other hand, the sentences referring to Ukraine and Moldova contained a clear recommendation for the leaders to approve the opening of the accession talks.
RFE reported that the two latest drafts, one of which was agreed on the night between December 11 and 12, removed the recommendations for all three countries and stated that these issues would be on the agenda of the upcoming EU summit.