New EU members could join without full voting rights

BRUSSELS ― New countries could join the European Union without full voting rights, in a move that could make leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán more amenable to the likes of Ukraine becoming part of the bloc.

The proposal to change EU membership rules is at an early stage and would need to be approved by all existing nations, according to three European diplomats and an EU official with knowledge of the discussions. The idea is that new members would achieve full rights once the EU has overhauled the way it functions to make it more difficult for individual countries to veto policies.

It’s the latest attempt by pro-EU enlargement governments, such as Austria and Sweden, to breathe life into an expansion process that is currently being blocked by Budapest and a few other capitals over fears it could bring unwanted competition for local markets or compromise security interests.

The EU has made enlargement a strategic priority amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist agenda, although the push to increase the number of members from the current 27 to as many as 30 over the next decade is exposing the bloc’s internal divisions.

“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,” said Anton Hofreiter, chair of the German Bundestag’s European Affairs Committee. “Enlargement must not be slowed down by individual EU member states blocking reforms.”

The initiative would allow countries currently on the path to membership, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro, to enjoy many of the benefits of EU membership but without veto rights ― something that EU governments have always cherished as the ultimate tool to prevent EU policies they don’t like.

The thinking behind the proposal — which is being informally discussed among EU countries and the Commission, according to the same diplomats and officials — is that bringing in new countries without veto rights, at least at the beginning of their membership, would allow them to join on more flexible terms without requiring an overhaul of the EU’s basic treaties, seen by several governments as a non-starter.

Previously, EU leaders had insisted that such an overhaul was needed before the bloc could admit new members like Ukraine, highlighting the risk of increasing deadlocks in Brussels. However, attempts to abolish the veto power for the EU’s existing members as well have run into staunch opposition, not only from Hungary but also France and the Netherlands.

Growing frustration

The plan for new members to join without full voting rights would “ensure that we remain capable of acting even in an enlarged EU,” Hofreiter said. “From discussions with representatives of the Western Balkan states, I am receiving clear signals that this approach is considered constructive and viable.”

Demanding that new countries not be allowed to join until the EU reforms the way it operates risks the bloc being able to “hold up enlargement through the back door,” he said.

The push coincides with growing frustration in Eastern European and Western Balkan candidate states that have undertaken far-reaching internal reforms, but are no closer to membership years after applying. In the case of Montenegro, negotiations for joining the EU started in 2012.

“The last country that entered [the EU] was Croatia more than 10 years ago ― and in the meantime the United Kingdom left,” Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović told POLITICO in an interview. “So this is why I believe that now is the time to revive the process, to also revive a bit the idea of the EU as a club that still has a gravity towards it.”

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Taras Kachka, echoed those concerns, calling for “creative” solutions to unblock EU enlargement. Kyiv’s bid to join the EU is currently held up by a veto from Hungary.

“Waiting is not an option,” Kachka said in an interview. “So what we need [is] to have a solution here and now. This is important for Ukraine but also for the European Union … I think that as Russia tests European security with drones, the same is done by undermining unity of the European Union.”

The EU has made enlargement a strategic priority amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist agenda | Photo by Contributor/Getty Images

While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has put enlargement at the center of her strategic agenda, touting potential membership for Ukraine and Moldova by 2030, EU countries have so far resisted efforts to speed up the process.

Earlier this month, EU countries shot down an attempt by European Council President António Costa, first reported by POLITICO, to move ahead with expansion.

Leaders from the Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — will meet with European leaders on Wednesday in London for a “Berlin Process” summit focused on boosting integration among those nations as a precursor to EU enlargement.

Ahead of an upcoming Commission assessment on the state of enlargement negotiations with the different candidate countries, the so-called enlargement package, one of the EU diplomats suggested the Commission could also seek to speed up the enlargement process by moving forward on negotiations without seeking formal approval from all 27 EU countries on each occasion. That would also avoid giving Orbán a veto at every stage of the negotiation.

Crucially, as part of the enlargement package, the Commission is also expected to float a proposal for internal EU reforms to prepare the bloc for admitting new members.

Expansionist Russia

Separately, an early draft of conclusions for the gathering of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday contains no mention of enlargement — to the outrage of pro-enlargement countries.

Membership in the European Union is often touted as the bloc’s key geopolitical tool against an aggressive Russia.

“When we look at enlargement today, one thing is clear: We need to get faster, less bureaucratic and more efficient,” Claudia Plakolm, Austria’s Europe minister, told POLITICO. “If the EU does not step up its game, we will lose ground to third actors who are already waiting to take our place.”

While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has put enlargement at the center of her strategic agenda, touting potential membership for Ukraine and Moldova by 2030, EU countries have so far resisted efforts to speed up the process. | Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

Future EU membership was a key issue in recent Moldovan elections, won by pro-EU President Maia Sandu, while EU membership was a key motivation for Ukraine as far back as the 2014 Maidan protests against Russian rule.

“Ukrainians have been fighting every day for the past three and a half years to keep Russia out of Europe,” Marta Kos, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, said in written comments to POLITICO. “In Moldova it was the credibility of the EU perspective that was decisive … I am confident that member states will not jeopardize this.”

Despite the pressure from Brussels, however, EU leaders facing surging support for far-right parties at home appear to be in no rush to jump-start the bloc’s expansion to 30 members and beyond.

At a press conference in July, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz let slip that he did not expect Ukraine to join the EU within the timeframe of its upcoming seven-year budget, which lasts until 2034.

Ukraine’s membership would “probably not have any immediate impact on the European Union’s medium-term financial perspective,” Merz said at the time.

Hans von der Burchard reported from Berlin and Nicholas Vinocur from Brussels.