The European Commission argued this Wednesday that the war in Ukraine, caused by the Russian invasion, “underlines the importance” of the enlargement of the European Union (EU), a week before European leaders in Spain talk about “a new enlarged Union” .
In a position released this Wednesday ahead of the informal European Council in Granada, which will take place on October 6 as part of the Spanish Presidency of the EU and which will be dominated by the possible accession of new members to the community project, the European Commission emphasizes That “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine underlines the importance of EU enlargement”.
“The EU continues to assist all candidate countries on their path to full membership and will assess progress to date in its next annual enlargement package”emphasizes the community administrator.
The issue of enlargement will then be central to the Granada summit.
A draft of the conclusions of this informal meeting, which the Lusa agency had access to this Wednesday, states that “an enlarged Union will make the EU more secure and prosperous”.
“Enlargement is an engine for improving the economic and social conditions of our citizens and reducing inequalities between countries. In the perspective of a new, enlarged Union, both the EU and the future Member States must be prepared: future Member States must step up their reform efforts and the Union must carry out the necessary preparatory work at home”This is stated in the document, on which the 27 European leaders and heads of state must reach agreement.
‘We will mainly have to tackle fundamental issues [como] what do we do together, how do we decide, how do we match resources and ambitions”is also mentioned, as an allusion to possible institutional reforms such as revision of the Treaties and a hypothetical transition to qualified majority instead of unanimity on certain matters.
Also this Wednesday, in an interview with Agência Lusa and other European news agencies in Brussels, the President of the European Parliament defended that formal negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the EU should start by the end of the year, asking Member States that “do not disappoint millions of people”.
In mid-2022, EU member states adopted a historic decision to grant candidate country status to Ukraine and Moldova, joining a broader group of countries, some of which have long been in the ‘queue’ to join the EU to join.
This list now consists of Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Enlargement is the process by which states join the EU after meeting political and economic requirements.
Any European state that respects and commits to promoting the democratic values of the community can apply for membership of the EU, but to do so it must undergo a process of formal negotiations (which can only be unanimously approved by the current Member States). Member States), followed by the implementation of the necessary reforms.
In the position published by the European Commission on Wednesday, the institution also states that it will “present a European defense industrial strategy to prepare the future framework for defense cooperation” and emphasizes the “urgent need to agree on the […] reforming the European economic governance framework to respond adequately to the challenges ahead and to create clarity and predictability for fiscal policy.”
The text comes 18 months after the Versailles Declaration adopted in March 2022, shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, in which the EU committed to strengthening defense capabilities, reducing energy dependence and building a stronger grassroots economy.
Source: DN
