A new BiEPAG analysis calls on the European Union to transform accession treaties into strong instruments of reform and accountability, rather than solutions that lead to limited, “lighter” or second-tier forms of membership, the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) announced today.
The authors of the analysis warn that an approach that keeps the Western Balkan countries on the very edge of integration could create a new gap – from the periphery of Europe to the periphery of the European Union itself – which would contribute to the further weakening, rather than the much-needed strengthening, of the EU.
Key recommendations include integrating existing instruments into accession treaties, strengthening the link between reforms and financial support, introducing clear and automatic safeguard mechanisms based on measurable results, and preserving full political equality for future member states.
BiEPAG has published a new analysis entitled “Implementation, Incentives and the Missing Link: How Accession Treaties Can Strengthen Europe”, which looks at ways in which the European Union can make the enlargement process both more credible and effective.
The analysis draws on lessons from previous enlargements and newly developed instruments for the Western Balkans, highlighting a long-standing problem: pressure and conditionality are strongest before membership, but weaken significantly after accession.
This creates space for reform stagnation and undermines trust in the EU's transformative power.
"Instead of promoting ideas of permanently differentiated levels of membership or limiting the rights of new member states, the authors advocate for a smarter and more decisive use of the existing legal framework," the analysis states.
The accession treaties already contain safeguard mechanisms and transitional arrangements, but they are not sufficiently linked to the instruments for protecting the rule of law and incentives for reforms that the EU has developed in recent years.
By strengthening these ties, EU accession can become a powerful driver of institutional changes that remain sustainable even after membership.
The analysis places particular emphasis on financial conditionality as the most effective catalyst for change.
The experience of both Member States and candidate countries shows that monitoring and reporting alone rarely produce tangible results, while a clear link between reforms and access to EU funds produces visible effects.
The authors also propose the introduction of objective criteria that would enable the automatic initiation of protective measures, without long-term political blockages, thus making the process more predictable and fairer for all countries.
At the same time, the analysis warns that creating a permanently differentiated membership would weaken the very idea of European unity.
The European Union, the authors argue, should preserve the principle of full political equality, while at the same time building stronger accountability mechanisms directly into the accession treaties.
Such an approach would ensure that enlargement remains geopolitically credible, while at the same time protecting the Union's democratic values and institutional stability.
The new analysis comes at a time when enlargement has returned to the top of the EU's political agenda.
BiEPAG emphasizes that the solution does not lie in lowering membership standards or creating new divisions between states, but in strengthening instruments that ensure that accession represents a true transformation – both for the acceding countries and for the European Union itself.
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