President Milanović Opposes Abolishing Unanimity within the EU: The Decision-Making System Must Remain as It Is, as Unanimity Is Enshrined in the EU’s Founding Treaties
“Unanimity is enshrined in the founding treaties of the European Union. Any discussion about possible changes should also include an answer to the question of how such changes could actually be achieved. There is no consensus for amendments to the EU’s fundamental legal framework. Without consensus, there can be no changes to the basic rules. The constitutional architecture of the European Union is untouchable,” President Zoran Milanović said after meeting with the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, in response to a question about proposals to abolish unanimous decision-making by all EU member states in certain areas.
President Milanović therefore believes that “the proposal is flawed at its core,” adding that abolishing unanimity “in decision-making on enlargement, that is, the accession of new member states, is a proposal I have opposed from the outset.” He stressed that this position has nothing to do with North Macedonia’s European integration. Journalists had asked whether abolishing unanimity in enlargement matters would help North Macedonia finally begin EU accession negotiations, after more than 20 years of delays caused by blockages from certain member states.
He considers such a proposal unfair to North Macedonia because it would remove unanimity for opening and conducting negotiations, while full EU membership would still ultimately require the approval of all member states. “We would abolish unanimity at certain stages of the process, but in the end the final decision on admitting a new member state would still have to be unanimous. As far as North Macedonia is concerned, I believe Croatia’s position is clear, open and friendly toward its ambitions, and there are no outstanding issues,” President Milanović said after meeting with President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, who is on an official visit to the Republic of Croatia.
The President also stated that unanimity in foreign policy and other sensitive issues affecting member states is “very often a matter of identity and fundamental national interests.” “These decisions are taken unanimously, meaning with the votes of all member states, and that is probably the last safeguard, especially for small states — a defense mechanism against the arbitrariness of larger states and those who steer the process through non-transparent methods and levers we cannot see,” the Croatian President explained.
“Therefore, the decision-making system must remain as it is,” the President said.
Speaking about the topics discussed during the meeting with the President of North Macedonia, President Milanović said they mainly concerned North Macedonia’s efforts to move closer to the EU. “I will not call it a path — because it has turned into a detour, and not through any fault of North Macedonia — but rather an attempt by North Macedonia to become a member of something that many of us, myself included until recently, regarded as the highest expression of statehood: accession to the EU. In Croatia’s case, this was achieved only through great effort, and in North Macedonia’s case, considering its historical path and geopolitical surroundings, it is an even greater achievement that it managed to emerge and survive as an independent state in such a historically turbulent environment,” the President said.
“North Macedonia will decide its own future and has the opportunity to determine what matters most to it. Is EU membership worth pursuing at any cost, when what is being asked of North Macedonia lately amounts to a kind of bargaining that is difficult to satisfy — whatever you do, a new demand follows, including things you could not have anticipated. North Macedonia alone must decide what is best for it and which path it chooses. The real path is one of security, well-being, prosperity, peace and stability for its citizens, while everything else, including the EU, is merely a façade. I wish North Macedonia, the Macedonian people and its political leaders all the best, and I hope they assess for themselves — without outside mentoring, manipulation or direction — what is truly in their interest. Life outside the EU is also possible, and it can be successful and fully dignified,” President Milanović concluded.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek, Filip Glas