Cuardaigh

The Ukraine Facility supports Ukraine, its recovery and its path to EU accession, allocating up to €50 billion for 2024 to 2027. Regulation (EU) 2024/792 establishing the Ukraine Facility was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in February 2024. The EU budget is supposed to finance the Facility's €17 billion in grants and guarantee its €33 billion in loans. Additional financing is expected to come from frozen Russian assets. In the negotiations with the Council, the European Parliament ...

Despite predictions of a long and inconclusive meeting, EU leaders achieved a historic and highly symbolic agreement to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, grant candidate status to Georgia, and open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, once the latter complies fully with the membership criteria. Even if the European Council did not finalise discussions on the revision of the multiannual financial framework – which includes, inter alia, an aid package for Ukraine ...

The geopolitical dimension of enlargement policy became more pronounced in 2022, when Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia asked to join the EU. Since then, fresh geopolitical challenges have accelerated the need to reform enlargement policy and cemented a shift towards the merit-based integration of new countries. Geopolitical considerations include security and defence and also foreign policy alignment, for instance in terms of relations with strategic competitors, such as China and Russia. Enlargement ...

A multi-ethnic country, Montenegro is composed of Montenegrins (43 %), Serbs (32 %), Bosniaks (7.8 %) and Albanians (5 %). In a May 2006 referendum, 55.5 % of the electorate voted for independence. Public opinion surveys show that almost 80 % of Montenegrins are in favour of joining the EU. On 2 April 2023, after securing 59 % of votes in a presidential election run-off, Montenegro's former Economy Minister Jakov Milatović declared victory over the incumbent, Milo Đukanović, who had been president ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country with a population of 3.5 million people, declared independence from the former Yugoslavia on 3 March 1992, following a referendum that was boycotted by the Serbian Democratic Party. In December 2022, following the European Commission's recommendation, the Council agreed to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina EU candidate status, stressing the urgent need for the country to advance on its European path. The Parliament's position on the Commission's 2022 annual report on ...

Albania has been an EU candidate country since June 2014. On 25 March 2020, the Council decided to open accession negotiations with the country, based on its progress in meeting the political criteria and fulfilling the five priorities that are key for EU membership. Accession negotiations effectively started in July 2022, when the first intergovernmental conference was held. The main challenges are flaws in the functioning of the judiciary, in the fight against corruption, and in the safeguarding ...

This briefing explores the motives, narratives, and membership realities of the three states that acceded to the European Communities (EC) in its first enlargement, in 1973: the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark. It argues that, despite the different conditions and context at the time, it is possible to draw lessons from this first enlargement experience on how applicant states can create favourable conditions for their stable long-term integration into the present-day European Union. Governments ...

The European Union has found new impetus for enlargement in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, making progress in what was once called the EU’s most successful policy. A year ago, the EU granted Ukraine and Moldova official EU candidate status and also opened the same possibility for Georgia. Politicians and analysts more and more often say that the EU should become more involved in the Western Balkan countries, which saw their membership prospects open 20 years ago. If it does not, those countries ...

Russia's war on Ukraine has changed geopolitical realities on the continent. Since the war began, Moldova has been granted EU candidate country status. It will also host the second European Political Community summit on 1 June 2023. President Maia Sandu – supported by the country's government, led by Dorin Recean – has put forward a modernisation agenda for the country despite difficult economic and geopolitical circumstances.

Serbia, with a population of 6.9 million, has been advancing towards EU accession since 2012, when it received candidate country status. Despite some progress, Serbia still has three major hurdles to overcome: improving internal political dialogue and reforms, reaching a comprehensive normalisation agreement with Kosovo,* and ensuring better alignment with EU foreign policy. In 2022, although Serbia voted for Russia's suspension from the UN Human Rights Council, it has not applied any of the EU's ...