BRUSSELS – The European Commission is considering a plan that would provide some economic benefits to candidate countries before they join the Union, as governments are looking for a way to speed up the enlargement process without lowering the criteria for admission to the EU, Politico.eu reports. The article notes
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BRUSSELS – The European Commission is considering a plan that would provide some economic benefits to candidate countries before they join the Union, as governments are looking for a way to speed up the enlargement process without lowering the criteria for admission to the EU, Politico.eu reports.
The article notes that the proposals are part of the Commission’s efforts to implement “gradual integration”, which would mean rewarding candidate countries by giving them greater access to EU programmes in return for implementing reforms before they become members.
According to Politico, the benefits currently under discussion include access to individual EU funding programmes, preferential trade arrangements and partial access to the Single Market prior to EU accession, with a specific “package” tailored to the progress of each individual candidate country.
The aim is to keep candidate countries on the European path by getting incentives to implement politically difficult reforms, even if they are years away from full membership.
The article stresses that unlike earlier ideas of so-called “reverse enlargement”, which imply giving certain political rights to the candidate countries before the completion of the accession process, that were rejected by member states, gradual integration would offer economic benefits similar to those of European Union members, but without joining the block before candidate countries are deemed ready for membership.
Politico reports that the proposal already has much more political support than previous initiatives. France and Germany, the two most influential members of the European Union, have previously supported similar models of “limited membership” for countries expecting a long accession process, and European officials believe this approach will be more acceptable to member states than the previous one.
The article notes that the European Commission will seek member states’ support for the initiative, and some officials hope that European leaders will agree to work on a broader framework of gradual integration at a European Council meeting in October or December.
