The Speakers of the Parliaments of the Western Balkans, together with the President of the European Parliament and the Speakers of the Portuguese and Slovenian Parliaments, representing the current and upcoming Presidencies of the Council of the European Union, signed during the Second European Parliament – Western Balkans Speakers’ Summit in Brussels on Monday a joint declaration calling on the Council of the European Union to deliver on its promises and urgently take decisive action to accelerate the enlargement process.
“[We] emphasize that the European perspective and a merit-based EU accession process of the Western Balkans remain in the Union’s very own political, security and economic interest; recall that enlargement remains more than ever a geostrategic investment in a stable, strong, and united Europe,” reads the declaration.
Parliament Speakers reaffirm the central role of parliaments in the enlargement process and commit to working together to further strengthen its parliamentary dimension, including in view of the 2021 EU-Western Balkans Summit.
“[We] emphasize that parliaments should further advance their role as inclusive spaces of dialogue and exchange of views, fostering mutual understanding and reconciliation in the Western Balkans, thus directly contributing to peace, stability, prosperity and stronger democracy in the region,” the declaration stresses.
Parliaments also commit to promoting a culture of cross-party dialogue and consensus in key reform areas including the rule of law, fundamental rights, and strengthening democratic institutions in order to advance on our European path. Moreover, they stress that independence of the judiciary, pluralism, free and independent media, gender equality and an inclusive approach to civil society are core European values that need to be constantly upheld and underline the importance of countering disinformation and fake news that endanger peace and mutual understanding within and among societies.
“[We] renew our commitment to strengthen parliamentary democracy by working together through inter-parliamentary dialogue and by making use of the support of the European Parliament in the area of mediation and dialogue, parliamentary capacity building, election observation and human rights actions,” reads the joint document.
In the declaration, Parliaments also express appreciation for the acts of solidarity and the cooperation between the European Union and the Western Balkans in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath and welcome the unprecedented financial support by the European Union for the benefit of the Western Balkans, which confirms the European Union’s efforts to contribute to the sustainable development and the long-term socio-economic recovery of the region.
The declaration also emphasizes the importance of the well-functioning market economy and the regional common market as the cornerstone of socio-economic resilience and the European integration of the whole Western Balkans and expresses commitment to facilitate the implementation of the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans, as well as the initiatives approved in Sofia in November 2020 – the foundation of the Common Regional Market, the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and strengthening digitalization, youth cooperation – in order to ensure sustainable economic development and to meet the EU standards.
“[We] recognize the challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic to the everyday functioning of parliaments and commend the resilience and adaptation capacity of our institutions [and] underline that it is paramount that our parliaments uphold their roles in pandemic and post-pandemic times by fully exercising their legislative, scrutiny and oversight roles,” the declaration notes.
Moreover, it stresses the importance of involving representatives of the parliaments, civil society and citizens of the Western Balkans Six in the Conference on the Future of Europe.
With the declaration, Parliaments commit to engaging and working together to advance legislation and build up capacities of the relevant committees for monitoring environmental protection, align legislation with mitigation and adaptation for climate change and in accordance with Paris Agreement and European Green Deal, as well as commit equally to increasing the resilience of the Western Balkans region with regard to climate change by reducing harmful practices, preventing pollution and degradation of rivers and seas and implementing strict policies for the protection of biodiversity.
