EU enlargement, Brussels accelerates: new entrants by 2030 to strengthen European security
The European Commission considers the accession of new countries to the Union a priority for security and geopolitical stability. New entries by 2030, Montenegro and Albania the most advanced candidates
Key points
For the first time since its inception,the summit of the European Political Community - the summit on the future of Europe now in its eighth year - was attended by a non-European country. On Monday, 4 May, in the city of Yerevan in Armenia, discussing neighbourhood and cooperation in the Old Continent there was also Canada, with its premier Mark Carney. An unusual presence that did not go unnoticed: the European Union is strengthening its network of understandings, so much so that some politicians are theorising about an intercontinental EU (French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot's possible entry of Canada into the EU; followed by Finnish President Alexander Stubb's statement suggesting Carney to think about it).
Broadening and Neighbourhood Policies
Suggestions aside, that Europe is redefining its role on the international chessboard is a fact. It is no coincidence that enlargement and neighbourhood policies appear among the strategic priorities of the 2028-34 budget proposed by the Commission. A line shared by the Parliament, which emphasises that Russia's aggression against the Ukraine has shown "that non-enlargement entails significant strategic costs and undermines security and stability across the continent". It would be precisely "the stagnation of the enlargement process in recent years" - reads the latest resolution - that created a vacuum, "opening the way for Russia, China and other malevolent actors".
It is in this vacuum and in an attempt to fill it that the EU is playing its game. On the one hand, the Kremlin interferes in the EU accession process of the Western Balkans through hybrid warfare operations, electoral interference and information manipulation campaigns; on the other hand, China continues to extend its influence over the countries of the Middle Corridor - in particular Georgia, with which it has concluded a trade agreement -, the Asia-Europe corridor alternative to the Russian route.
In this scenario, enlargement becomes "a geopolitical investment", as emphasised by European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas. "Not a plus, but a necessity if we want to be a stronger player on the world stage. Now the window is wide open: the accession of new countries to the Union by 2030 is a realistic goal'. Indeed, if Montenegro and Albania declare themselves ready to conclude negotiations between 2026 and 2027, the Ukrainian dossier continues to accelerate, as does that of Moldova.
Protection of the rule of law
But the new conditions set by Brussels are clear: no reforms, no resources. Those who want to enter and access pre-accession funding will have to meet the demands of the dossiers: roaming, Sepa payments, single market, energy, industrial cooperation. And rule of law. On this the new enlargement policy is very clear: there must be no shortcomings in the preliminary process, to avoid 'a democratic regression following EU accession', as happened in Hungary and Poland. Countries in which governments, after joining the EU, have forcefully intervened in the rule of law, subjecting the judiciary to political control, limiting freedom of the press and amending the constitution.
