July 2 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) said it has presented to the European Union member states the draft negotiating frameworks for North Macedonia and Albania, thus paving the way to the formal opening of the accession negotiations with each country.
The proposals which establish the guidelines and principles for the accession negotiations with the candidate countries were built on a revised enlargement methodology aimed to make the accession process more credible, with a stronger political steer, more dynamic and predictable, the Commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
In the next stage, the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU will present the agreed general EU position in the first inter-governmental conference with each country, marking the formal start of the accession negotiations.
In March, EU member states reached a political agreement on opening accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania.
The European Council granted the status of EU candidate member state to Albania in 2014 and to North Macedonia in 2005.