Brussels proposes “a gradual integration” to the candidates to enter the EU

The European Commission is beginning to carry out the reforms it demands from applicants to enter the European Union, especially Ukraine. He presented them in a communication sent to Parliament and the European Council one day before the start of the new summit between EU heads of State and Government, which will be held on Thursday and Friday in Brussels. In the 22 pages of the communication, the Executive led by Ursula von der Leyen points out to the applicants (countries of the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova) the path to follow to achieve an integration that, the document points out, will be “gradual.” “The revised methodology […] offers candidate countries and potential candidates strengthened pathways for the ‘gradual integration’ of enlargement countries into certain EU policies, already before their accession, anticipating certain benefits and obligations of EU membership,” he notes. The report.

When facing the next enlargement of the EU, which addresses the enormous challenge of integrating Ukraine – a country invaded by Russia, with an area much larger than that of the current members, with more than 40 million inhabitants and a very important agricultural sector―, two fronts of reform are proposed: those needed by the countries that aspire to enter the Union and those needed by the EU itself to be able to integrate the candidates. In this last field, the challenge most pointed out by experts, the oldest member states of the club and the most pro-European opinions appears several times in the report: we must reduce the matters in which the unanimity of the Twenty-seven is required at the time to make decisions so that action is more agile. One of these matters, explicitly mentioned in the communication, is tax policy, an issue in which the opposition does not come so much from more Eurosceptic countries (Hungary) as from others such as Ireland or Luxembourg, with taxation very favorable to companies.

Along with the tune-up that Brussels self-imposes on the EU, there is also a display of the reforms that are requested of the applicants. The first area in which changes are demanded is in the rule of law. “This is one of the core values [de la Unión]. It guarantees democracy, equality and fundamental rights throughout the Union,” the report states. “The functioning of democratic institutions, the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law are a vital part of the Copenhagen Criteria [o de adhesión] and, therefore, a fundamental precondition for joining the EU,” he points out. Furthermore, “continued progress on these fundamental reforms determines the overall pace of accession negotiations,” the document notes. Negotiations in which “aspiring states must show tangible and continuous progress in the rule of law.” The report insists that “beyond accession, this progress must be constant” and notes that “the EU has had to face important challenges to [defender] the rule of law, including in the Member States.”

This last comment is an obvious allusion to Hungary and Poland, two states that entered the EU in the great enlargement of 2004 and in the last decade, at the hands of the ruling ultra-conservative parties, began to reverse respect for those values. fundamental. This lesson is very present in some of the founding countries, such as the Netherlands, which usually remember that before talking about the distribution of funds or what the enlargement will cost, it is necessary to ensure this matter.

And if the rule of law is a central pillar, there is no doubt that it is based on the foundations of the single market and its four freedoms of movement: goods and products, people, capital and services: “Assume the acquis of the single market is the core of any accession to the EU. This implies a series of rights and obligations, which cannot be à la carte, neither with regard to policies nor governance. “This raises the question of gradual access to the single market before accession.” This leads the Commission to consider “whether the gradual granting of access to improved treatment in the internal market would create rights and obligations directly enforceable in the legal system.”

It also points to other fields in which progress is needed in these countries before achieving integration, such as transport, energy or digital connections. In addition, there are the demanding environmental commitments developed in the EU in recent years to fight climate change, food quality and safety or cohesion policy. The document also points to one of the most controversial aspects in the Union since 2016, migration, and one of the most exploited routes, that of the Western Balkans. “It is essential to continue strengthening the region’s migration and asylum systems in line with the comprehensive approach set out in the Migration and Asylum Pact, especially with the support of EU agencies, and ensure the alignment of visa policies with those of the EU for effective migration management.”

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