European Pravda has published an interview with Clément Beaune, the French transport minister who visited Ukraine last week to address Ukraine’s infrastructure needs, such as maintenance and reconstruction of Ukraine’s rail network and port facilities, according to Le Monde.
The three-day visit, Beaune’s first since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, began in Odesa, the city where his great-grandparents lived until around 1910 before leaving for France.
When Ukraine applied for EU membership a few days after the invasion, Beaune served as the secretary of state for European affairs, and France presided over the Council of the European Union. Thus, he contributed to granting Ukraine the EU candidate status.
Although his current position in the French government is not “extremely influential,” according to European Pravda, it says Beaune is considered President Macron’s confidant and one of the closest government officials.
Below is an excerpt from the interview held via video link after the minister returned to France. A transcript of the full interview is available on the European Pravda website.
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Let me ask you about a sphere related to the historic decision to grant Ukraine candidate status. I remember well how you were advocating that decision. Looking from today’s perspective, was it a correct EU decision?
Yes, I do think it was an important and correct decision to grant this status to Ukraine under the French Presidency of the EU nearly a year ago. We should be very proud of achieving this decision unanimously.
It was, I think, a geopolitical decision. We needed to say that Ukraine will belong to the EU.
It’s also a moral decision. Ukrainian members of parliament and government officials insisted: the hope that you can join the EU as soon as possible will be a clear signal and a very important, not only a symbolic decision for you, which will determine the actions of Ukrainians.
Do you perceive it as a message, a symbolic message, or do you believe that Ukraine will be a new member of the EU?
I cannot say when. It’s impossible for any on the Ukrainian side and the EU side, to say today when it happens.
Negotiating, making reforms, integrating EU rules, EU standards takes some time. Also, it’s a specific and very dramatic situation because, for the first time, a candidate country is undergoing war on its own territory. So it’s very difficult to predict anything.
I know what Ukraine insists on.
I met Olha Stefanishyna, the vice Prime Minister in charge of the EU affairs, and she hopes to open the negotiations by the end of 2023. I know that Ukraine has already made a lot of steps, and is carrying out reforms even during war. There is a very, very, very strong motivation on the Ukrainian side to go as fast as possible. We must take this into account.
But it has to be a unanimous decision on the EU side.
In March 2022, you told CNN that Ukraine could become an EU member, I quote, in a few years. But in May, you said in an interview with Radio J that Ukraine’s accession will probably take 15-20 years. What is your opinion now?
I would say it is the same thing, which is twofold.
This process does take several years – but who knows how many!
And in May-2022 I said about 15-20 years because then we had disputes, including with Olga Stefanishyna, and I aimed to give a signal: let’s not imagine that it can be done overnight.
Also, don’t forget that at that time, there was a month left before granting Ukraine candidate status. Therefore, with this statement, I also sent a signal to some EU states: you should not think that everything will be over with candidate decision. It will not happen that once Ukraine receive this status – you will become members of our family the very next day, or the next month.
But what I’m sure about is that the EU committed to having Ukraine join the family as soon as we can.
Next year there will be new institutions, new European Parliament, new European Commission, but I’m totally sure, and I can guarantee 100%, that the commitment made by the EU will remain.
And then the speed depends on efforts and circumstances.
So, 15 years is not a minimum. If we do our job quicker, can we join sooner?
To be very clear, there’s no minimum, although it takes time, depending on the efforts made and the circumstances.
What is clear is that Ukraine will join the EU.
Photo: French Transport Minister Clément Beaune in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 21, 2023. Rafaël Yaghobzadeh for Le Monde
