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EU Enlargement by 2030 Is Hard But Realistic, Michel Says
(Bloomberg) -- Preparing the European Union to accept additional member states as early as 2030 is a realistic target even if it’s challenging, European Council President Charles Michel said.
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“The purpose of the enlargement is not to be bigger,” Michel said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of a meeting of almost 50 European leaders in Granada, Spain, on Thursday. “The purpose is to be more influential, more powerful to protect and to defend the interests of our citizens,” he added.
Candidate countries — among them Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova and five Balkan nations — have to undergo a strict reform process to comply with the bloc’s rules in areas including the rule of law and economy before being accepted as new EU members. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is expected to announce next month whether it will recommend launching formal negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to become EU members.
Even after talks start, countries can get stuck in limbo for years without a concrete outlook for accession. Serbia, which has been a candidate country for more than a decade, faces numerous obstacles on its EU path, including unresolved relations with Kosovo.
North Macedonia started accession talks last year after finding a deal with Bulgaria, an EU member state that blocked the former Yugoslav republic’s accession for years over a dispute on language and the treatment of Bulgarian nationals in the country.
Putting down a target date for the enlargement process may accelerate the timeline, according to Michel. “It means that we are encouraging all of us to be active, to be motivated, and to deliver,” he said.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said it’s important that the EU continue to push the process to encourage applicants to keep implementing key reforms and battle corruption.
“It is thanks to the European Union that countries like that actually come up with standards,” Metsola, who is from Malta, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “I tell you my country did the same and if it were not for EU membership we would not be in that situation.”
--With assistance from Max Ramsay.
(Updates with Metsola quotes in final two paragraphs)
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