The European Commission (EC) has recommended, for the sixth consecutive year, that negotiations should be opened with Macedonia. “The Progress Report on the Republic of Macedonia is part of the 2014 Enlargement Package adopted by the European Commission on 8 October. In the package, the Commission concluded that accession process is at an impasse. The country continues to sufficiently meet the political criteria for EU membership. The Commission recommended, for the sixth consecutive year, that negotiations should be opened, but regrets the backward steps of the past year. The Republic of Macedonia was the first country to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU and has been a candidate country since 2005. This year marked the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the oldest in the region, on which the Commission has recommended since 2009 a move to the second stage of the association,” read part of the key findings 2014 Progress Report on Macedonia. As regards the political criteria, the EC says Macedonia continues to sufficiently fulfil the political criteria for membership of the EU.
