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The European Union should strengthen safeguards for upholding the rule of law not only in future member states but also within its existing membership, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said Wednesday.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg during an exchange of views on pre-enlargement policy reviews, Kos said the EU should examine how to make existing mechanisms, including Article 7 of the EU treaties, more effective.
“When it is about the rule of law ... we should also do something among the member states, so we suggest that we sit down with the member states and also go through Article 7, how to make its use, how to make it more efficient,” Kos said.
Article 7 allows the EU to respond to a serious risk of, or a serious and persistent breach of, the bloc’s fundamental values, including the rule of law.
Kos said the European Commission is proposing a common framework of safeguards for future accession treaties.
The framework would build on existing sectoral safeguards while introducing additional measures that could be used if new members seriously breach EU values, including democracy and the rule of law.
In the most serious cases, measures could include the suspension of voting rights, with the proposed measures operating during a transitional period of up to 15 years.
Kos said rule-of-law monitoring would begin before accession and continue after a country joins the EU, with new member states covered by the bloc’s full rule-of-law toolbox.
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Kos also rejected the idea that the EU’s enlargement drive is based solely on geopolitical considerations.
“Geopolitics means why enlargement is important and why this is priority. Merit-based means conditions under one country can join and when,” she said.
The broader package proposes enhanced gradual integration for candidate countries, allowing them to participate more closely in selected EU policies before full membership while requiring continued progress toward accession.
Kos stressed that gradual integration is not a substitute for EU membership.
“Only those candidates who are serious about becoming a member of the EU will be able to get part of this enhanced gradual integration,” she said.
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