Analyst: EU Enlargement Policy Needs a Turning Point

European union

The European Union (EU) needs a turning point in its enlargement policy, which an associate senior research fellow at the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Erwan Fouere, has described as a mere “empty shell on April 1,” suggesting that the Union should respect its commitments towards the Western Balkans instead, and stop the abuse of the veto power by individual members in the accession process.

“These weaknesses in the EU’s overall approach, combined with the failure to respect its commitments towards the region by allowing individual member states to impose their own domestic agendas, undermines the credibility of the EU as a whole, leaving its enlargement policy as nothing more than an empty shell,” Fouere said in the analysis “Can the War in Ukraine Revive the EU’s Enlargement Agenda for the Western Balkans?”

According to the author, the EU will need “a turning point” if it wants to achieve its ambitions in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, but also in the Western Balkans. The Union will need to meet its obligations towards the region, which, Fouere says will entail a qualitative change in the EU’s approach and end the veto power of individual member states.

“It will also mean implementing innovative measures to make the reform agenda more effective, including more intrusive monitoring mechanisms and a more systematic involvement of civil society organizations,” the analyst said in the paper.