Friday

2nd Jun 2023

Opinion

Competing options for EU enlargement

  • How many flags? How many members? (Photo: European Commission)
Listen to article

Once perceived as the most powerful foreign policy tool in the EU's toolbox, "enlargement" lately has become only a source of frustration for countries that would like to join the club.

With European Commission's recommendation to grant candidacy status to Ukraine and Moldova, and potentially to Georgia in the future, the enlargement policy is back on the agenda. It is not only the Association Trio, however.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The EU-Western Balkans leaders' meeting on Thursday (23 June) — ahead of the full EU summit — also set the tone when it comes to Western Balkan countries' path towards the EU.

But in addition to discussions related to the enlargement policy, various ideas of complementary institutional arrangements for the entire continent are on the rise. We have French president Emmanuel Macron's European Political Community, European Council president Charles Michel's European Geopolitical Community, and former Italian PM Enrico Letta's European Confederation among others.

These proposals are open to discussion in detail.

Today there are three urgent tasks for the EU when it comes to wider Europe: advance in the processes of candidate countries; secure cooperation through transitionary integration and complementary institutional arrangements in the meantime; and reform the EU where necessary.

The three tasks are different pieces of a broader puzzle. Today, the dichotomy between democracies and autocracies is ever more visible in wider Europe. If the European Union would like to regain its ability to shape the continent and define the borders of democracy and good governance, it is time to revaluate the enlargement policy and start thinking about complementary institutional settlements.

For doing so the European Union should also increase its absorption capacity in the meantime. It is paramount to remember all these steps are not a favour to (potential) candidate countries but rather an inclusive rethinking of the continent to guarantee cooperation to face common challenges.

Furthermore it should be underlined at this point that, for the candidacy status and accession negotiations to work as real fertilizers of democratic reform, there should be light at the end of the tunnel.

Credible prospects = concrete steps

Only a credible prospect of future membership can lead to durable reforms. Furthermore, the concept of transitionary integration, immediately making that waiting room a tool of further rapprochement — will equally be important.

If concrete short term benefits — beyond the already existing association agreements of candidate countries — could be offered, fostering democracy could be more attainable.

For this to be the vision, we need a change of thinking. The issue is that today enlargement is mostly perceived as a favour to candidate countries. This is why the EU's absorption capacity (which surely is an important consideration and mentioned in the Copenhagen criteria) is frequently used as a counter argument to accession.

The aspects related to democracy promotion, good governance and the possibility of better cooperation in foreign and security policy are not necessarily seen as primary by many in the EU.

One key reason for that is the democratic backsliding in some EU member states — mainly Hungary and Poland — discourages further investment in the region in form of EU membership. That perception has to be challenged if the EU is serious about being a geopolitical actor.

It is important to understand that today, rethinking wider Europe is not only about candidate countries' European future, but also EU's ability to shape its continent. It was thanks to European integration and the transatlantic alliance that many countries have advanced their democracies in the 20th century. It is now the time to extend this model to more countries.

Today, Russia's war of aggression is taking place to challenge Ukraine's existence and its path towards a more democratic model. This war is also a war of models. The EU's ability to act according to this reality will shape the future of the continent. If candidate countries move towards the Union, the collective resilience of the continent will increase.

Today working on wider Europe is not a choice but a necessity. If the European Union would like to keep on transforming countries in the continent, expand its model of governance, encourage democratic reforms and secure cooperation, it has to multitask. If this is a geopolitical competition, the EU still has many attractive things to offer. It should just make its offer tangible and real.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine - the case for granting EU candidacy

Granting EU candidacy status to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will firmly anchor their ties with Brussels — and enable the EU to secure its place in the Black Sea region, connecting Europe to China and energy-rich Central Asia, bypassing Russia.

The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it

The EU's ambition to be a digital superpower stands in stark contrast to the US — but the bigger problem is that it remains far better at regulation than innovation, despite decades of hand-wringing over Europe's technology gap.

Latest News

  1. Spanish PM to delay EU presidency speech due to snap election
  2. EU data protection chief launches Frontex investigation
  3. Madrid steps up bid to host EU anti-money laundering hub
  4. How EU leaders should deal with Chinese government repression
  5. MEPs pile on pressure for EU to delay Hungary's presidency
  6. IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target
  7. Europe's TV union wooing Lavrov for splashy interview
  8. ECB: eurozone home prices could see 'disorderly' fall

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us