EU to change membership rules to speed up Ukraine's entry - Politico
Photo: EU plans to change membership rules to speed up Ukraine's accession (union europa eu)
The European Union is considering reforms to its accession process that could speed up Ukraine’s integration, according to Politico.
Proposed changes
According to the publication citing diplomatic sources, one proposal suggests that new countries could initially join the EU without voting rights.
This could, in particular, make leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban more flexible regarding the bloc’s enlargement.
The initiative is still at an early stage and requires approval from all member states. The main idea is that new members would enjoy most EU benefits but gain full rights only after key institutional reforms, including the adoption of qualified majority voting.
Benefits for candidate countries
"Future members should be required to waive their right of veto until key institutional reforms — such as the introduction of qualified majority voting in most policy areas — have been implemented. Enlargement must not be slowed down by individual EU member states blocking reforms," said Anton Hofreiter, head of Germany's Bundestag Committee on European Affairs.
According to Hofreiter, the approach would allow candidate countries — including Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro, and others — to access European benefits earlier, without waiting for all internal EU reforms to be completed. He noted that this approach has already received positive feedback from Western Balkan countries.
Additionally, Politico reports that the European Commission could propose speeding up enlargement by approving interim measures without requiring consent from all 27 members. This would prevent blockages from governments like Hungary’s.
Ukraine's EU accession process
Ukraine applied for EU membership just days after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In December 2023, the European Council decided to start membership negotiations with Ukraine.
Hungary's block
However, Hungary has begun blocking accession talks, imposing various conditions. Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that no one has the right to block Ukraine's EU membership, as the decision reflects both the country’s aspirations and Europe’s will.
Why Hungary continues to block Ukraine's EU progress and what Brussels and Kyiv say about Orban's veto can be read in RBC-Ukraine's report.
