French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined a group of EU leaders at the summit, as the capitals try to find a consensus on how far and how quickly the process of including new members in the bloc should go, Politiko reports.
They are taking part in talks in the small Balkan country of Montenegro at the annual EU-Western Balkans summit, as Brussels steps up efforts to advance membership for countries seeking to join the bloc. No new members have been admitted since Croatia joined in 2013, but amid political and economic uncertainty, candidate countries are ramping up pressure to open the door.
“There is clear momentum in enlargement,” said European Council President Antonio Costa, who traveled to hold talks with candidate countries across the region over the past week. Montenegro is now preparing its EU treaty, Albania is making progress in the process, and Moldova and Ukraine have also unlocked the first round of negotiations, he said.
"This is proof that the candidate's reforms are delivering results and that the EU is committed to the enlargement process. Enlargement is and will remain based on merit. At the same time, recent proposals show that there is a new willingness to simplify and speed up the process," Košta told Politiko.
Candidate countries such as Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine say the enlargement process needs to be accelerated to reflect geopolitical realities in an era of trade wars and armed conflict. Officials in Brussels worry that adversaries could exploit delays in the accession process to weaken the European ambitions of countries not yet in the bloc.
“Everyone can see that the Western Balkans is an island surrounded by EU member states,” said the EU official, who requested anonymity to speak openly. “So the consequences of gaining influence from hostile states would be huge.”
Number 28?
Montenegro, with a population of just over 600.000, has high hopes of becoming the EU's 28th member by 2028. It is already a member of NATO and has decided to use the euro as its currency, but joining the EU has proven to be a slow process. Its application was first submitted to Brussels in 2008.
"We have reached a position where we enjoy the full support of the member states and, as a leader among the candidate countries, we are on our way to joining the European family within the planned timeframe," Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić told Politiko.
Just last month, the country's negotiators scored a historic victory, beginning the formal preparation of its accession treaty. But while Montenegro insists its application should be considered on its merits, the legal conditions under which it enters will set a precedent for those who follow, including Ukraine and Moldova.
EU governments want to avoid a repeat of the stalemate with Hungary, where the member state broke EU law and repeatedly used its veto to block key policies.
As a result, a series of new “backstops” — legal measures that can lead to withholding support and restrictions on voting rights in response to setbacks in the rule of law and democracy — will be tested in Montenegro’s deal, according to three officials working on the document. While two-thirds of those provisions will be the same as in other countries, about a third will be new, they said.
“We do not shy away from safeguard mechanisms if they contribute to preserving the credibility of the process and trust among member states,” said Spajić. “However, it is important that such mechanisms are clearly based on rules and activated only in cases of non-compliance with agreed obligations.”
He added: "We believe that by fully embracing European values, we will put ourselves in a position where we can enjoy all rights and assume all obligations."
Growing pains
Earlier this year, the European Commission floated the idea of a much faster accession process in response to geopolitical uncertainty. But countries like France, Germany and the Netherlands see rigorous negotiations and extensive internal reforms as a guarantee that future members will not cause problems later.
Instead, the EU plans to continue the process, offering pre-accession benefits so that candidate countries can feel some of the benefits of closer integration as soon as possible. For example, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to announce on Friday that Western Balkan countries will gain access to free roaming in the EU.
On Thursday, France and Germany joined forces to present options for candidate countries in the region that are unlikely to join the bloc in the short term — including inviting them to meetings as observers and providing them with access to the Single Market.
In a major breakthrough, Ukraine and Moldova will begin the formal opening of negotiating “clusters” on June 15 after Hungary’s new prime minister, Péter Magyar, lifted Budapest’s long-standing veto as part of a deal with Kiev.
But while capitals agree that the enlargement system as a whole needs to be redesigned and simplified to avoid a repeat of Montenegro's decades-long negotiations, they lament the lack of opportunities for leaders to discuss the issue. Merz insisted he would raise the topic at the EU summit in Brussels, which begins on June 18.
Despite their concerns, fears of security risks and foreign influence make it increasingly likely that the status quo will not survive.
“After the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the European Commission can present enlargement in that context,” said Nina Vujanović, a Montenegrin enlargement expert at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. “Knowing that these countries are strong is also beneficial for the EU.”
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