EaP Think Tank Network
How to Radically Simplify and Streamline the EU Enlargement Process
Photo by Lukas S on Unsplash
Republished Content

How to Radically Simplify and Streamline the EU Enlargement Process

Diclaimer: This content was not edited by the German Council on Foreign relations (DGAP).

Over the last year the EU’s enlargement process has seen the implementation of a new ‘gradual integration’ concept, allowing for some modest elements of single market access and additional funding before full accession, but conditional on a complex set of policy reforms.  

Intended to re-dynamise the enlargement process, which is constrained by very onerous decision-making rules in the Council, this concept adds a fresh layer of bureaucratic complexity to the system, without directly advancing the formal accession process. This goes against the European Commission’s new pledge to simplify policy regulations to boost the EU’s geopolitical influence.  

Additionally, several Member States are now specifically pushing the Commission to propose a way to simplify and streamline the enlargement process – but without saying how this might be done.  

Read the full publication by the Centre for European Policy Studies here.

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Publications

Discover articles
Read more
Hungary’s New Government: What’s at Stake for Ukraine and EU Enlargement?
Zsuzsanna Végh, András Rácz, Jakub Jaraczewski, Anastasia Pociumban
“What’s Brewing in the Eastern Neighborhood?” brings timely questions to a panel of experts, sparking dynamic debate and showcasing a range of...

What's Brewing?
Europe’s Next Enlargement: What Berlin, Paris, and the Hague Really Think 
Nikola Xaviereff
In this input Nikola Xaviereff summarizes the key findings of DGAP’s latest policy brief Europe’s Next Enlargement: What Berlin, Paris, and The Hague Really Think.

Policy Brief
Recovery and Development of De-Occupied Communities: Financing, Governance, Human Capacity
Anna Kornyliuk, Vyacheslav Kurylo
Ukrainian communities (hromadas) have experienced the war in very different ways. Yet their ability to recover depends on one critical factor: absorption capaci...

Report