At the moment, the issue of the enlargement of the European Union (EU) is not among the top priorities, although efforts are being made. At the moment, the EU has to deal with not a few internal, but also external problems.
This was said by the MEP from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats/BSP group Kristian Vigenin at the conference “The Future of the EU: Enlargement, Security and Fulfillment of Promises“. According to him, practice has shown that after enlargement, the EU emerges stronger, with more opportunities for citizens and businesses. Vigenin pointed out that there are currently candidate countries for membership, and it is difficult to predict which of them will be ready for accession. The MEP noted that countries such as Montenegro and Albania are at the forefront of this process. “Work with them is developing and they are getting closer and closer to unifying standards, following common policies”, he said, adding that it remains to be seen whether the EU itself will be ready, because there are two big issues.
Kristian Vigenin explained that the two issues are related to finances and the EU's institutional framework. Regarding the first, he said: “In the draft for the next EU budget, which is from 2028, no future enlargements are expected in the framework from 2028 to 2035. There is a clause that provides for a review of the budget in the event of new enlargements, but nevertheless this priority is not visible in the next budget“. In relation to the second question, the MEP stressed that even at the moment, with 27 member states, there are difficulties in making effective decisions and reaching agreement on fundamental issues. “We have 27 European Commissioners, if five or six more member states join, the question is: how will such a body function“, the MEP noted.
“The European Parliament says that in subsequent enlargements, the rule must be applied that not every member state will have a European Commissioner. It remains to be seen how future enlargement will affect the EU budget and policies, because some countries are relatively small and will not pose a major challenge to the Union, such as Montenegro and Albania. However, in a country like Ukraine, things would look different“, said Christian Vigenin. He also noted the common agricultural policy in this case, considering the area of Ukraine. “It remains to be seen what happens with the cohesion policy. It equalizes the differences both within the regions of the member states and between the member states,” he specified.
According to Vigenin, by postponing the accession of some countries to the EU in time, there is a danger that this will push their citizens away from membership and that they will think that they are unwanted in the Union. According to him, at the moment, in each of these countries the desire for EU membership prevails.
The discussion with the participation of the MEP was held at the National Student House in Sofia. The event was opened by the Secretary General of the EUF Velko Ivanov, and the topic was “Political debate: EU at a crossroads - 20 years after the major enlargement, is the EU ready for the next wave?” The panel discussed future EU enlargements. The conference is being held as a cooperation between EUF Bulgaria, EUF Kosovo, EUF Romania and EUF Europe, BTA reported.