The former president of the European Commission also told Euronews he regrets not being firmer on newer member states Hungary and Slovakia, which have been found to breach the EU’s rule of law, adding that Brussels needs to be “very careful” before admitting new countries to the bloc.
Ukraine is not ready for full-fledged membership in the European Union, and instead should be offered a limited one, says former European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker.
In an interview with Euronews, Juncker cautioned that the EU needs to be “very careful” about admitting new members.
Corruption, a weak economy and a lack of state structure make Ukraine inadmissible for membership for now, said Juncker.
He advised Brussels to offer a second-tier membership which would include access to the single market, a voice on crucial debates, but no vote at the table.
Juncker said he accepted Kyiv was making progress on tackling corruption and “de-oligarchisation” but says he’d be more in favour of a “membership which would not be a total membership.”
Ukraine could have access to the EU but not have a vote at the European Council, where all 27 member states debate and vote on crucial matters affecting the bloc, he added.
“No vote in the Council, but participation in European debates on issues of interest and concern for Ukraine,” Juncker told Euronews.
“We don’t want to give them the impression they are far away from membership but show they are on the way to membership without having all the rights and all the possibilities of real membership,” he said.
Juncker, who presided over the EU’s top executive body from 2014 to 2019, said he regretted how the Commission dealt with problematic member states such as Hungary and Slovakia, who were often criticised for breaching EU laws.
“This was a failure, both by those countries and by the European Union,” he said.
“We treated the situation with benign neglect. You have to be very strict, as recent experiences have shown, when it comes to the respect of rule of law. It’s of the essence of European unification and integration,” Juncker concluded.
The EU leaders have backed Ukraine’s membership bid as recently as Monday, with European Council President Antonio Costa saying that Ukraine’s accession to the block would be the most important security guarantee for the future of the country.
Ukraine formally applied to join the EU on 28 February 2022 — mere days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year — and is hoping to join by 2030.
Watch Euronews’ interview with Jean-Claude Juncker in the player above.
