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The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a new framework for future enlargement of the European Union that would let candidate countries gradually integrate into selected EU policies before full membership, while subjecting incoming states to enhanced safeguards for up to 15 years after they join.
The proposal, unveiled in Brussels, aims to address long-standing concerns that new members could backslide on democratic standards after accession, while also offering a faster path for candidate countries to benefit from closer ties with the bloc.
Under the plan, new EU members could be subject to an extended monitoring period during which the bloc could intervene if a country seriously reverses commitments made during accession talks, particularly on the rule of law, democracy or fundamental rights.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said the goal is to ensure that countries joining the EU do not fall below the standards required for membership.
"We do not want a two-tier membership," Kos told reporters, adding that both existing and new member states should enjoy equal rights.
She described the proposed safeguards as an "insurance policy" that could be triggered if serious breaches occur.
Potential measures include restricting financial support or, in the most severe cases, suspending a new member state's voting rights in the EU Council.
The commission is proposing a safeguard period of up to 15 years, though it said the precise terms would need to be negotiated individually with each candidate country and written into its accession treaty or related regulations.
Alongside the safeguards, the commission proposed a more ambitious approach to integrating candidates into the bloc before they formally join. Kos called gradual integration an "accelerator for enlargement and a bridge" linking the EU's strategic interest in stabilizing the continent with its merit-based accession process.
Countries that make sufficient progress on reforms and show strategic alignment with the EU could be allowed to take part in selected EU policies ahead of full membership.
The commission said it would explore deeper cooperation in sectors including energy, transport, artificial intelligence, security and defense.
Kos was careful to frame the approach as a complement to, not a replacement for, full membership. "Gradual integration is not a substitute for full membership," she said, stressing that participation would remain "conditional, merit-based and reversible."
She named Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine as the four most advanced candidates for EU membership and said the commission intends to publish indicative roadmaps charting their paths forward.
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The package also proposes changes to how the EU makes decisions, intended to prepare the bloc's institutions for a larger membership.
The commission said it would continue pressing for the use of so-called passerelle clauses, mechanisms that allow a shift from unanimity to qualified majority voting, in areas such as sanctions, tax fraud and certain fiscal measures tied to energy policy.
It also proposed applying qualified majority voting to the opening of negotiating clusters and other intermediate steps within accession negotiations, a change that could speed up what has often been a slow-moving process requiring unanimous agreement among all member states.
The proposals will now be taken up by EU member states, the European Parliament and the EU Council, which will debate the institutional and policy changes needed to accommodate future enlargement.
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