The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, insisted on the enlargement of the European Union on Wednesday 13 September, when she concluded her State of the Union address.
“History is calling on us to work on completing our Union. (...) It is clearly in Europe’s strategic and security interests to complete our Union”, she stressed, deeming it necessary to define a vision for the successful enlargement of the EU.
Unlike the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, Ms von der Leyen did not set a date for EU enlargement (see EUROPE 13237/8), nor did she specify the number of countries affected by accession, mentioning only a Union of “30 or more” Member States.
Recalling that the Rule of law and fundamental rights “will always form the bedrock” of the Union, Ms von der Leyen announced that the annual reports on the Rule of law, which currently concern only the Member States, would be extended to the accession countries.
And with enlargement comes the need for the EU to reform itself. “It is now time for us to match (the) determination (of the candidate countries). That means that we need to think about how we get ready for a completed Union”, said the President. In her view, we need to move past the “old binary debates” and deepen and widen the integration of the Union. “Each wave of enlargement came with a political deepening”, said Ms von der Leyen, arguing that the next enlargement should also be a “catalyst for progress”.
While she felt that reforming the EU would require a European Convention and changes to the Treaties, “if and when necessary”, the President felt that we should not wait to change the Treaties before moving forward.
“We can adapt our Union to enlargement more quickly than that. This involves answering concrete questions about the practical workings of a Union of over 30 countries. And in particular, our ability to act”, she explained. So, in her view, it is necessary to look “more closely” at EU policies “one by one and understand how each would be affected by the enlargement of the Union”.
Ms von der Leyen announced that the Commission would begin work on a series of pre-enlargement policy reviews to determine whether and how each policy area should be adapted to enlarge the Union. According to the President, we also need to think about the future functioning of the European institutions, the future of the EU budget and credible security commitments.
During the debate, several MEPs called for an end to unanimous voting by the Member States in the Council, but the President did not mention such a development.
Ms von der Leyen announced that she would present the Commission’s ideas to EU leaders in 2024 under the Belgian Presidency of the Council.
Read Ms von der Leyen’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/8it
Read the Commission’s letter of intent: https://aeur.eu/f/8iu (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)