European Commission proposes reforms to prepare EU for new members

The European Commission has proposed reforms to prepare the European Union for new member states, DW reported. According to DW, the plan is to require candidate countries to meet EU standards while also reforming the bloc itself by removing obstacles in the accession process and protecting its democratic values. Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told journalists in Strasbourg on 6 October that "a larger union is a long-term investment in Europe's peace, security and prosperity."

DW reported that Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine are currently the frontrunners to join the bloc, with EU officials expressing the hope that Montenegro could do so as early as 2028. One main obstacle in accession negotiations has been the need for unanimous decisions across all 27 member states, according to DW. It reported that individual states have often blocked a candidate's progress because of bilateral issues, citing Hungary's blocking of Ukraine's negotiation process as a prominent example.

The Commission recommended that member states move away from unanimity for decisions such as the opening of negotiation clusters, replacing it with qualified majority voting, under which decisions would no longer require the agreement of all 27 members. An unnamed Commission official told journalists that every cluster opening is subject to three individual decisions, each requiring unanimity, and said this "clearly needs to go." According to DW, a shift to qualified majority voting would itself require a unanimous decision by member states.

Tinatin Akhvlediani, head of the enlargement program at the Centre for European Policy Studies, told DW she has "some reservations as to whether there will be unanimous agreement from the member states to move to qualified majority voting." She pointed to previous attempts to change voting rules that were rejected by member states, according to DW.

The Commission also proposed "gradual integration," under which candidate countries could be granted some benefits of membership before joining, as long as they meet EU criteria. Kos said on 6 October that "gradual integration is not a substitute for full membership. It is the accelerator for enlargement," and said the process would stay merit-based. Nina Vujanovic, a research fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told DW that rewarding reform earlier could have a motivational effect on candidate countries. Montenegro already participates in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) even though it is not yet a member, DW reported.

DW reported that the Commission wants to give candidate countries such early access more systematically and link it to "strategic alignment." An unnamed Commission official told journalists that this would not be available to candidate countries "unless they really orient themselves on the EU." Heather Grabbe, a senior fellow at Bruegel, told DW that "the EU is trying to keep candidate countries out of the hands of Russia" and that strategic alignment is aimed at politicians.