No fast-track EU membership for Ukraine as leaders meet in Versailles

The European Union’s leaders have invited the European Commission to submit its opinion on Ukraine’s application to become a member of the European Union, but there was no commitment for a fast-track accession.

In a meeting convened at the Versailles Palace by French president Emanuel Macron, EU leaders acknowledged the European aspirations of Ukraine, saying the EU would deepen its partnership to support Ukraine in pursuing its European path. “Ukraine belongs to our European family,” the Council said in a statement.

Nearly 3,000 miles away, in Mariupol in Ukraine, a clean-up was underway after a Russian forces bombed a children’s and maternity hospital, killing three people. EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen underlined the gravity of the attack, calling the atrocity at Mariupol a likely “war crime”.

EU leaders were expected to agree to increase military spending and cooperation, and phase-out dependence on Russian fossil resources, as they’ve been discussing for days.

But countries like Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Austria are among those most exposed to Russian energy imports, and are not keen on a quick phase-out of Russian energy.

Latvian prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš called for harder, faster sanctions to cripple the Vladimir Putin’s economy, calling for a full stop to EU energy imports from Russia. “What do we have to lose? We have to defend democracy, and stop Russian neo-imperialism,” he said, explaining that Europe was relying on Ukraine to fight on its behalf to safeguard democracy.

While states like Latvia back Ukraine’s swift EU membership, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte tempered expectations that Ukraine would be an EU member state any time soon. “The Netherlands stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, but there is no such thing as fast-tracking accession. I want to focus on what we can do for Ukraine tonight... accession is for the long-term.”

In a statement after the Council meeting, EU leaders again accused Russia “and its accomplice Belarus” of bringing war to Europe, and promised to hold them to account for their crimes.

“We commend the people of Ukraine for their courage in defending their country and our shared values of freedom and democracy. We will not leave them alone. The EU and its Member States will continue to provide coordinated political, financial, material and humanitarian support.”

Metsola: need for Defence Union

In her speech to the Council, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola said Europe’s role required a boost in defence and in innovative technologies, to build a “real Security and Defence Union” that could counter new threats.

She called for an increase in national budgets and a reshaping of the EU budget that would allow collecting funding for a ‘Defence Union’.

“We must go beyond the European Defence Fund and make the EU budget work for our security and defence policy wherever it adds value. We must use the budget to implement the Strategic Compass, and make the Defence Union a reality.”

Hinting at opposition inside the EU towards common funding of a defence union, Metsola said European leaders should “look for ways to further break taboos” and bring the Defence Agency and the other Union agencies working in the field under the EU’s budget umbrella.

Metsola also said that for Europe to cut off Russian gas, oil and coal, it should aim for joint procurement of gas, increase the share of low carbon and renewable energy for the faster implementation of the Fit for 55 package, and move towards hydrogen and modern nuclear energy to attain climate goals.

“Our target must be towards a future of zero gas from Russia. Ambitious but necessary.  

The European Parliament has been a strong proponent of renewable energy objectives, increasing interconnections between Member States, stepping up our storage capacity and reducing reliance on single suppliers. These actions can help the EU both substitute Russian gas and increase rapidly the share of our own sources of energy before 2030.”