European Commission to propose easing new members into EU – Politico

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will present proposals to change the European Union's approach to admitting new members on Wednesday, 20 March.

As reported by Politico, instead of the current all-or-nothing approach, Brussels is considering gradually easing Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkan nations into the EU. This would allow aspiring EU members to start benefiting from certain membership advantages whilst navigating the accession process rather than waiting for years or decades until they implement all necessary reforms.

Specifically, Brussels proposes to gradually allow candidate countries to join the single market, based on proposals from France, Germany, and Portugal.

The Commission cautioned that EU state leaders must discuss the criteria under which a country can advance to the next level of integration into the single market.

Additionally, Brussels suggests moving away from the unanimity requirement that hinders decision-making on external and tax policies to avoid deadlocks in the future. The document proposes qualified majority voting "with appropriate and proportionate safeguards to accommodate such strategic national interests."

The Commission insists that removing the unanimity principle does not require changes to EU treaties, as the path to this is already laid out in existing agreements through so-called passerelle clauses, which allow countries to change voting rules.

The document is expected to be approved by the 27 commissioners at today's meeting of the College of Commissioners.

Some EU members were nervous about this document because they did not want the enlargement issue to receive much attention before the June European elections.