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By:
Augustin Palokaj
- 18 October 2025 11:24
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"Kosovo was not included in the pilot phase of this project due to its status. However, after consultations with the European Commission and other important participants, it was decided to open the second phase of this initiative to Kosovo as a potential candidate for membership," this institution said in its response to Koha.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has become the first EU institution to decide to admit members from Kosovo, after having admitted members from all candidate countries more than a year ago. This advisory body to the structures of the European Union will also include representatives from Kosovo, who will be selected through an ongoing procedure. The Committee is composed of representatives from civil society, economic organisations, trade unions and other social and economic partners.
The EESC has now published a call for applications from Kosovo, who can apply until 24 October. Once elected, they will participate in the work of this Committee on an equal basis with all participants from other candidate countries and from the Member States, except that they will not have the right to vote. The right to vote remains reserved only for members from the EU Member States.
When all candidate countries were accepted into this Committee in the spring of 2024, but not Kosovo, the chair of this Committee, Olive Ropke, told Koha that "Kosovo cannot be included for formal reasons, because it does not formally have candidate status." In fact, Kosovo still remains the only European country that has applied for EU membership but its request has not been reviewed.
Despite this, the European Economic and Social Committee has found a way to overcome the formal obstacle and include Kosovo in this initiative.
"Kosovo was not included in the pilot phase of this project due to its status. However, after consultations with the European Commission and other important participants, it was decided to open the second phase of this initiative also for Kosovo as a potential candidate for membership. The call for expressions of interest from candidates is now open until 24.10.2025 and when the selection procedure is concluded, the enlargement candidate members from Kosovo will have the same status as the candidates from other enlargement countries," this institution said in its response to Koha.
Candidates from civil society organizations, trade unions, and all economic and social partners may apply for this announcement.
Members of this committee who come from candidate countries actively participate in the work of the European Economic and Social Committee on an equal basis with colleagues from EU countries, but will not have the right to vote.
In 2024, members from 9 candidate countries were accepted into this Committee, leaving out Kosovo, the only country involved in the enlargement process but which does not formally have candidate status for EU membership.
Last year, this Committee welcomed members from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. All of these countries formally have the status of candidate countries for membership in the European Union.
The outgoing President of this Committee, Ropke, said that this initiative marks an important step towards the gradual integration of candidate countries even before they become formal members of the European Union. He expressed his expectations that colleagues from candidate countries will bring their useful experience to the work of this institution.