The European Parliament recommends that the European Union “abolish the requirement to decide unanimously on the progress of individual countries in the accession process.”

In the press statement after the end of the proceedings of the plenary session on 23.11. dedicated to the new enlargement strategy, it is emphasized that the European Parliament recommended to the EU, “the reform of the decision-making process for membership and the advancement of membership negotiations with qualified majority instead of unanimity for the EU to be a more reliable and efficient global player.”

MEPs also recommended that “accession negotiations should be completed by 2030” and stressed that “no alternative should replace EU enlargement.” They called on the EU to “overcome the status quo situation and revive the enlargement process both among member countries and in applicant countries”.

In the face of the growing Russian threat

In light of this threat to European peace and stability, MEPs argued that “an invigorated enlargement policy remains the strongest geopolitical tool available to the EU”.

They also called on member states to “fulfill the EU’s commitments to the countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership and ensure that alternatives to full EU membership are not offered to candidate countries.”

Withdrawal of sanctions, EU to reward steady progress

The MEPs “demand that democratic reform and the rule of law be put at the forefront of the enlargement process, alongside the improvement of monitoring, reporting, evaluation and conditionality” the press statement reads.

The recommendation for the new EU Enlargement Strategy, approved by the MEPs, asks the EU to “make EU funding and its tangible results in the enlargement countries more visible. “The EU should work on preventing the intervention of third parties in the political, electoral and other democratic processes of these countries,” quote the MEPs’ press statement.

They are quoted as having recommended that “at the same time as ensuring that “any lack of progress or setbacks in the process of reforms related to European integration have real-time sanctions” and reward candidate countries when they make sustainable progress , including their introduction to the EU common market”.

The MEPs asked the EU for “clear deadlines for the completion of negotiations with countries that have entered the membership process and insisted that negotiations should be completed by the end of this decade at the latest.”

The foreign policy of the countries in the accession process should be aligned with the EU. The press statement notes that the MEPs emphasized “the priority importance for the EU of aligning the foreign and security policies of the countries in the accession process with the common foreign and security policy of the EU”

They recommended that “accession negotiations with Serbia should only advance if the country upholds EU sanctions against Russia and makes significant progress on EU-related reforms.”

MEPs welcomed the European Council’s “extraordinarily swift decision on the EU membership applications of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia and call on these three countries to move forward with substantial reforms”. They also welcomed the conditional recommendation of the European Commission for the granting of candidate country status to Bosnia-Herzegovina and called on the European Council to follow the recommendation as soon as possible, the press statement states.

The recommendations of the European Parliament were approved with 502 votes in favor, 75 against and 61 abstentions.

/k.s/