The EU has made enlargement a strategic priority amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist agenda, although the push to increase the number of members from the current 27 to as many as 30 over the next decade is exposing the bloc’s internal divisions.
“Future members should be required to waive their right of veto until key institutional reforms — such as the introduction of qualified majority voting in most policy areas — have been implemented,” said Anton Hofreiter, chair of the German Bundestag’s European Affairs Committee. “Enlargement must not be slowed down by individual EU member states blocking reforms.”
The initiative would allow countries currently on the path to membership, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro, to enjoy many of the benefits of EU membership but without veto rights ― something that EU governments have always cherished as the ultimate tool to prevent EU policies they don’t like.
The thinking behind the proposal — which is being informally discussed among EU countries and the Commission, according to the same diplomats and officials — is that bringing in new countries without veto rights, at least at the beginning of their membership, would allow them to join on more flexible terms without requiring an overhaul of the EU’s basic treaties, seen by several governments as a non-starter.
Previously, EU leaders had insisted that such an overhaul was needed before the bloc could admit new members like Ukraine, highlighting the risk of increasing deadlocks in Brussels. However, attempts to abolish the veto power for the EU’s existing members as well have run into staunch opposition, not only from Hungary but also France and the Netherlands.
Growing frustration
The plan for new members to join without full voting rights would “ensure that we remain capable of acting even in an enlarged EU,” Hofreiter said. “From discussions with representatives of the Western Balkan states, I am receiving clear signals that this approach is considered constructive and viable.”