EU flags Photo: VCG

France stuck to its hardline position against European Union membership talks for North Macedonia and Albania on Tuesday, warning it could not approve negotiations until the bloc reformed the "endless soap opera" of admitting new members.

European ministers, making a third attempt since June 2018 to approve membership talks for the Balkan hopefuls, are set to discuss in Luxembourg opening a path for Skopje and Tirana, with broad EU support and backing from the US.

But Amelie de Montchalin, France's European affairs minister, said there could be no way forward until what French President Emmanuel Macron in July called "deep reform" of EU membership rules.

That French position has raised concerns in Brussels about further delays in an already drawn-out process that will deepen the Balkans' growing ties with Russia and China.

The six Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, all of which apart from Albania emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia, are considered future European Union members.

"The first thing we need to talk about is how Europe must reform the way it does enlargement and negotiations," de Montchalin said, calling the process "an endless soap opera".

"Is the process efficient? From our point of view, no."

The impasse sets up a showdown between Macron and the rest of the bloc at a two-day summit in Brussels from Thursday if European ministers cannot agree to open talks in Luxembourg.