Enlarged EU will need less unanimity for decisions on institutional reforms, MEPs say

A report on EU enlargement will call on MEPs to support more EU decison-making that moves away from unanimity on matters of institutional reforms.

MEPs from the Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Affairs committees voted by 56 votes to 20, and six abstentions, for the EU to adopt a long-term political vision that is able to absorb new member states into the bloc.

MEPs said there was a need for stronger protection of the rule of law and the EU’s democratic values against backsliding – in both existing and future member states – so as to ensure that enlargement strengthens the Union.

“EU enlargement is an historic opportunity to achieve a unified, secure and peaceful Europe. It is a high time to advance EU accession negotiations with candidate countries. We are recommending a common approach whereby enlargement and EU institutional and decision-making reforms must go hand in hand and to strengthen the EU and deliver on the promise made to candidate countries,” said Lithuanian co-rapporteur Petras Austrevicious (Renew).

Portuguese co-rapporteur Pedro Silva Pereira (S&D) said: “This is the first ever joint report on enlargement by our two committees. This exercise has made clear the geostrategic aspects of enlargement and the need for reforms in the candidate countries, in parallel to the need for reforms at EU level in order to be able to absorb new members.”

The report will call on MEPs to reform the EU to act more effectively, including in its decision-making procedures, and move away from unanimity and adopt more flexible systems such as passerelle clauses.

Institutional pre-enlargement reforms must also address the question of the size of the European Parliament, and the way the Council works, such as the system of rotating presidencies of the Council.

They also said the calculation of qualified majority voting thresholds should also be reconsidered to improve the balance between larger and smaller states and to set higher thresholds for the most important decisions.

Each accession country should have individual reform targets, roadmaps and intermediate timelines, with no fast-tracking as this could affect the integrity of the accession process.

But countries who make substantial progress on EU-related reforms should be able to gradually integrate into EU common policies, such as the single market, and get access to EU funds, apart from having observer status in relevant EU bodies and institutions.