The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg have proposed limiting the voting rights of new countries joining the EU, in a position paper seen by Agence Europe on Wednesday 10 June.
In their view, an innovative approach to the accession treaties must be adopted in order to “design necessary improvements to ensure that enlargement will strengthen the EU and enhance the security of its neighborhood”.
With the aim of guaranteeing the EU’s capacity to act, these countries want the EU to hold “an in depth discussion on the possibility of temporary transitional limitations of voting rights for new Member States in particular parts of the EU acquis where unanimity is required (e. g. (parts of) enlargement, CFSP, MFF) taking due consideration of legal and political sensitivities”. Moreover, the treaty should include safeguards against conduct that is contrary to the principle of sincere cooperation.
The countries consider that future accession treaties should include a non-regression clause “codified as a binding norm which prohibits regression on EU values including respect for the rule of law after accession”.
They add that it is essential to strongly anchor rule of law requirements, including safeguards against any backsliding, in the EU accession treaty and to monitor them in the rule of law report.
According to the signatories, participation in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) should be a (political) precondition for accession to the EU.
They further propose building on the existing sectoral safeguards and transitional measures resulting from previous enlargements, such as safeguard clauses that can be triggered in the event of difficulties in the field of Justice and Home Affairs, the internal market or the economic situation of a given area, or the transitional implementation of the common agricultural policy and cohesion policy.
In their view, there is also a need to maintain a gradual approach to optional measures governing access to Member States’ labour markets and possible circumventions of those measures, while considering extending the maximum possible time limit.
A monitoring mechanism should ensure the proper application of the Community acquis, they add.
Lastly, the five countries call for internal EU reform to be carried out in parallel with the enlargement process.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/ma2 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)