The European Commission (EC) has reacted after the proposal of the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, that the year 2030 be set as a deadline for the current candidate countries for full EU membership.

In response, it is emphasized that “the EC is not focused on deadlines in the process of enlargement of the Union, but rather to help the candidate countries to progress in this process,” said Dana Spinat, the EC spokeswoman on Tuesday (August 29)..

Spinat made the comments at a press conference in Brussels on August 29, after European Council President, Charles Michel proposed that 2030 be set as the deadline for current candidate countries and the EU to be ready for the enlargement.

But, while admitting that enlargement is a political priority for the European Commission, she answered to Michel’s statement that “we (EU) are not focused on deadlines, but on helping the candidates to meet the criteria and to get ready”.

It is proposed that by 2030 the EU and the candidate countries will be ready for the enlargement.

“The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has specifically said how committed we are to making enlargement a success. We have always said that the enlargement is a priority and candidates should join when they are ready. We work closely with the candidates to help them carry out the reforms,” said Spinat.

She added that this process should remain a merit-based process and that candidates should move according to their success in meeting the criteria.

The spokeswoman of the European Commission reiterated that success in enlargement requires both the candidates and the EU to be ready. She has informed that EU leaders will discuss enlargement at the Granada summit in Spain on October 5, 2023.

“We have instruments to help the candidates to get closer to the EU even before they become members. The commission has proven that it is committed to keeping the expansion process as a priority,” Spinat underscored.

Spinat said also that she is not aware that there have not been exchanges between Michel and Ursula von der Leyen on this matter, before Michel came up with his proposal.

On August 28, Michel called for 2030 to be set as the deadline for the European Union and candidate countries to be ready for enlargement.

During the speech at the Bled Strategic Forum, he repeated several times that from now on the candidate countries should be referred to as “future EU member countries”.

The leaders of the countries of the Western Balkans region, and leaders of several EU countries, participated in the Bled Forum in Slovenia.

Michel admitted that the long road of the Western Balkan states to the EU, which started more than 20 years ago, has caused disappointment to many people, both in the region and in the European bloc.

The last enlargement of the EU took place on July 1, 2013 when Croatia became the newest member country. Since then there has been no enlargement as the UK has left the EU leaving it back with 27 member states.

/a.p./