Farandouris: The government should say “no” to the repeal of the veto for the accession of new countries to the EU

Warning to the Government not to consent to the removal of the “veto” for the procedure accession of new countries to the EUthe MEP and coordinator of the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament addressed from Strasbourg, Nicholas Farandouris.

In statements immediately after the marginal approval of the report on the abolition of unanimity (veto), he sounded the alarm and called the “political forces to be alert”.

In its plenary session European Parliament last week narrowly passed with 310 votes out of a total of 640, a report on the enlargement of EUin which it is proposed to abandon the principle of unanimity (veto) for the individual chapters of the accession process in the context of enlargement of the EU and its replacement by the principle of the majority. According to the Report proposed by the MEP Sandro Gozi from the Renew Eurogroup, the existing Member States (including Greece) will not be able to have a right of veto when opening or closing individual chapters (e.g. customs union, energy, rule of law, fisheries, etc.) for acceding third countries. “Practically, this means that if the decision is also approved by the Council of Ministers, Greece will lose the ability to block any chapter concerning e.g. Turkey, as it has done in the past due to threats and the questioning of national sovereignty or due to non-compliance with the European acquis”, notes the MEP and professor of European law. The Report and the final decision also include references to common defense with enhanced cooperation schemes and the possibility of participation of third countries (e.g. Turkey) with the majority procedure instead of the unanimity currently in force and which gives the right of veto.

“I voted against the Report because it does not include guarantees and safeguards against countries that do not even recognize the status of a member state (Cyprus) even though they are in the accession process. Under the current circumstances, the veto is our last weapon against countries like Turkey that threaten our national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Simple and clear”, says Nikolas Farandouris in his message on social networks.

Earlier, diplomatic circles in Greece and Brussels had expressed their concern about the adoption of this decision by the European Parliament. “I believe in the enlargement of the EU with countries that have taken steps towards convergence, such as Montenegro, Serbia, etc. However, without safety nets, the accession process risks developing into a fiasco, dividing and not uniting the EU”, concludes the Greek MEP.

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