The leader of the European Commission defended this Wednesday that the European Union (EU) must prepare quickly for enlargement, without waiting for the treaties to be changed, and announced the opening of reports on the rule of law to candidate countries.
“It is possible to more quickly create a Union fit for enlargement,” Ursula von der Leyen said in her annual State of the Union address.
“I am very happy to announce that we will open up the rule of law reports to candidate countries which will be updated even faster,” she said.
Von der Leyen also announced that Brussels will work on a series of policy reviews ahead of enlargement to see how each area may need to adapt to a larger EU.
“We will have to think about how our institutions function – what Parliament and the Commission will look like, about the future of our budget – in terms of what it finances, how it finances and how it is financed – and we need to understand how to to secure credible security commitments in a world where deterrence is more important than ever.”he announced in his speech to the European Parliament (EP).
Von der Leyen reiterated that membership of the community bloc is based on merit and recalled that she supports the EP in defending a European Convention and a change in treaties “when and if necessary”, but stressed that the EU “cannot wait” to make progress with enlargement.
The EP, he stated, has already established that Ukraine’s future lies in the EU, as well as that of the Western Balkans and Moldova, adding that it knows “how important the EU perspective is for so many people in Georgia” .
It is “time for Europe to think big again and write its own destiny”
“We have seen the great progress that Ukraine has already made since we granted the country candidate country status, and we have seen the determination of other candidate countries to implement reforms” towards the rule of law, a priority in the EU, he added.
The Commission President also said that she was “convinced that the closure of the Union is the best investment in peace, security and prosperity for our continent”, and stressed that “the time has come for Europe to think big again and write your own words. destination.”
The speech was established by the Treaty of Lisbon and was delivered for the first time by Durão Barroso, consisting of an assessment of the actions of the community administration and the presentation of the main European bets for the following year.
Ursula von der Leyen today gave the last speech of her term as head of the community board.
News updated at 10:24
Source: DN
