Germany and France push for “a new approach” to simplify the EU enlargement methodology

Brussels – On the eve of two back-to-back summits with the vast majority of enlargement partners, France and Germany are clearly telling the other EU member states, through a non-paper, that now is the time to “inject a new dynamism” into the EU enlargement process through a set of proposals designed to simplify the current methodology and make gradual integration more structured.

As a contribution ahead of the EU–Western Balkans Summit on 5 June and the EU–Moldova Summit on 22 June, the German–French non-paper – seen by The New Union Post – builds on the proposals put forward by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, arguing that there is “an opportunity not to be missed” to complete “the Union as a truly European Union.”

Two parallel paths should be pursued, according to the informal document, which is aimed at testing the waters among EU diplomats and governments.

The first path is to “streamline” the accession process – not to revolutionise it – with the aim of improving efficiency and enabling the “faster and deeper integration” of candidate countries into the EU. Paris and Berlin propose “a new, process-oriented approach which cuts over-formalised hurdles for intermediate steps and simplifies the current methodology“, for example by merging some procedural requirements.

Moreover, with the “full agreement” of all member states, the Council should move forward with the opening of “all relevant negotiation clusters” when proposed by the Commission. This is because the work of the EU institutions and negotiating candidates “should focus on the substance of the reforms rather than on procedural steps”. Within this framework, political guidance could be provided through “regular” Intergovernmental Conferences (IGCs).

The second path is to provide “additional incentives” for reforms as part of the merit-based process. The proposal is for a “pre-accession strategy containing a toolbox with a set of building blocks,” which could bring candidate countries “effectively” closer to the EU through “a more structured gradual integration”.

These so-called building blocks would be based on progress made in the accession process and would be “reversible” in the event of backsliding by the candidate country concerned on the EU’s core values and principles, as reflected in its reform process. This new approach would offer “immediate and tangible progress” to all candidates, while remaining tailored to the level of progress achieved by each of them.

Inside the non-paper’s “building blocks”

“The aim of full EU membership remains unaffected,” the non-paper reads. Germany and France insist that their intention is “neither to replace full EU membership nor to prolong the path towards it”. On the contrary, the proposed building blocks are intended to “make enlargement a reality” by ensuring that gradual integration contributes to the success of the accession process.

The Commission is therefore invited – for the moment, only by these two EU member states – to present proposals to “facilitate” the gradual integration of candidate countries. These could include “privileged access” to the Internal Market on the basis of “substantive” progress in accession negotiations, “closer links” to the EU’s day-to-day decision-making process, and “progressive observer status” at meetings of EU institutions.

In fact, the informal document already contains concrete and detailed proposals – developed further from those set out in Chancellor Merz’s letter of 18 May – which could serve as a basis for discussion among EU leaders and for further work by the Commission. Let us take a closer look at them.

Joint meetings of the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament with representatives of the Western Balkan countries and Moldova could be held twice a year, with participation opened to countries that have applied for membership (currently all ten countries involved in the process).

More frequent joint parliamentary committees composed of MEPs and national parliamentarians could also be established. In addition, at the invitation of the European Parliament, participation would be subject to the approval of the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (currently only Montenegro and Albania meet this condition).

All candidate countries could participate in specific agenda items of informal meetings of the European Council, while they could attend Council meetings as observers without voting rights when relevant chapters in the accession process are closed.

Only those who have provisionally closed Chapter 31 (Foreign, Security and Defence Policy) – currently no candidate country – may participate in specific agenda items of Foreign Affairs Council meetings as observers without voting rights. The same requirement would apply to enhanced security and defence cooperation, including security and defence partnerships, PESCO projects, Frontex, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, and the EU cyberattack early warning system.

When the respective standards and requirements are met, strengthened participation in EU programmes and initiatives could include Creative Europe, Digital Europe, Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, the Youth Experience Scheme, EU pooling mechanisms for joint procurement, the Technical Support Instrument, Twinning, and TAIEX instruments.

Sectoral integration into the Single Market would be subject to fulfilment of the respective standards and requirements and/or the provisional closure of the relevant negotiating chapters. It could encompass SEPA, Roam Like at Home, the Transport Community, Agreements on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAAs), the energy market, the Emissions Trading System, green lanes, EU competitiveness policies, industrial strategies and critical raw materials, Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status, the Digital Single Market, SPS agreements, further reduction of non-tariff trade barriers, and exemption from certain safeguard measures (similar to EEA states).

Full participation in the Single Market could be based on a European Economic Area-plus model, but it would be strictly limited to those candidate countries that have already adopted and implemented the EU acquis in the first five clusters – all except Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’ – and that have provisionally closed the relevant negotiating chapters, without prejudice to transitional periods and safeguards. None of the candidate countries would currently be eligible.