EU proposes changes to the enlargement process; Commissioner Kos calls it a 'new Helsinki moment'
Commissioner Marta Kos outlined a reform package that aims to combine phased integration with tougher safeguards and a new methodology ahead of an EU leaders' debate in October.
The European Commission has put forward a proposal to overhaul the EU enlargement process, introducing a package that includes gradual integration, tighter scrutiny of candidate countries and a new accession methodology, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos announced at a conference of Croatian ambassadors in Zagreb.
Key elements and timing
Kos said the initiative revives a long‑postponed review of pre‑accession policy as Brussels prepares for a leaders' debate scheduled for October. The proposed changes are intended to rethink how the European Union would function with more than 30 members and to offer candidate countries tangible rewards earlier in their path to membership.
"The world has changed. And enlargement must change with it," Kos said in Zagreb, framing the package as what she called a "new Helsinki moment" for the EU — a reference to the post‑Cold War summit that paved the way for earlier waves of enlargement.
She argued that a larger Union will need institutional adjustments to remain capable of acting quickly and adapting in times of crisis, and proposed simplifying decision‑making and increasing flexibility. "We should use this to make decision‑making simpler and more flexible. This could mean reducing the number of areas where one member can block all others. That would NOT mean reducing our institutions," Kos said.
The commissioner also stressed stronger safeguards to prevent new members from regressing on democratic standards and the rule of law, pointing to recent experience in the EU. "We must ensure that we do not allow Trojan horses to enter the EU. Not today, nor in 10 or 20 years. Recent experience has shown that stronger safeguards may be necessary to prevent and, if necessary, to remedy breaches of the Union's fundamental principles and values," she warned.
Several member states, notably France and Germany, have urged a rethink of the accession methodology in favour of gradual integration — a mechanism meant to deliver practical benefits to candidate countries earlier in the process. "Enlargement must evolve to respond to today's reality. Therefore we must move away from the 'all or nothing' logic in enlargement. We should look for more ambitious ways for gradual integration," Kos said.
Photo: Fejsbuk)
