French President Emmanuel Macron used a speech on Europe Day to put forward a sweeping, avant-garde but detail-light proposal to redraw the political map of the Continent with a new organization that would give Ukraine a closer relationship with the EU short of membership — and could even include the U.K.
Speaking Monday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Macron proposed a new “European political community,” which would include both members and non-members of the EU.
The event served as both a celebration of Europe Day — which marks the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration that paved the way for today’s EU — and a closing ceremony for the Conference on the Future of Europe, a yearlong EU self-assessment process that included a series of town hall meetings with citizens.
Ukraine began the process of applying to join the EU in February this year, four days after Russia's invasion.
"We all know perfectly well that the process to allow [Ukraine] to join would take several years indeed, probably several decades," Macron said.
He added, "That is the truth, unless we decide to lower the standards for accession. And rethink the unity of our Europe."
Macron said a "parallel European community" should be considered instead, rather than suspending the EU's strict membership criteria to fast-track Ukraine's application.
He said it would be "a way of anchoring countries which are geographically in Europe and share our values".
His comments came shortly after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU's executive would be publishing its initial opinion on Ukraine's bid for membership in June.
Kyiv officials confirmed on Monday that Ukraine had submitted the second part of its EU membership application to Brussels.
Macron did not explain how any of the privileges of membership would be balanced against obligations. Nor did he have any specifics on how core EU members would provide security for newer affiliates that might be vulnerable to attack, let alone for Ukraine which is already at war.
Macron was not the first to come up with a plan for strengthening the EU’s ties to partner countries, including Ukraine, before granting formal membership.
Last month, Enrico Letta, a former Italian prime minister and leader of Italy’s Democratic Party, proposed a “European confederation” with aspiring member countries, that would begin with a shared “economic area,” gradually adding commitments and eventually including a common defense clause.
It normally takes years for countries to negotiate EU membership, with candidates having to prove that they meet multiple criteria - from respecting democracy and the rule of law to having a robust enough economy.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested the EU use a special procedure to grant Ukraine immediate membership of the bloc, but this has not happened.
