Enlargement, EU toughens conditions for new members: Up to 15 years of supervision and suspension of funds if they cheat!

New members of the European Union could be subject to a 15-year period of special post-accession supervision, during which they could face suspension of funds or even of voting rights in case of serious rule-of-law violations.

The European Commission on Tuesday presented a new package of proposals that provides for strengthening the safeguard mechanisms for countries that will join the EU in the future, as well as new procedures for the gradual integration of candidate countries.

The measure aims to avoid situations where political changes in a newly acceded state could block or undermine the European Union’s decision-making process.

“I was much criticised when I first said that I do not want to see new Trojan horses in the European Union. That was still before the elections in Hungary. Today I can say: no more Viktor Orbán,” declared the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos.

Stronger safeguard mechanisms

In June, five founding EU countries asked for the guarantees in future accession treaties to be strengthened, so that cases of democratic regression and violations of European values are dealt with more quickly.

The Commission is now taking this idea forward, arguing that the experience with Hungary has shown the limitations of Article 7 of the EU Treaty. That article allows the suspension of some rights of a member state that violates the Union’s values, but the procedure is considered slow and not always effective.

For this reason, a new mechanism is proposed that would function in parallel with Article 7. It could be used to suspend European funds and, in the most serious cases, the right to vote for new member countries that act against the rule of law, EU values or the principle of sincere cooperation.

The Commission considers Hungary’s stance towards Ukraine as one of the clearest examples. Budapest agreed for Ukraine to be given candidate country status, but then blocked the advancement of the process.

“Once we agree on an objective, we all have to work towards the same objective,” Kos said.

The new mechanism could be used for a period of 15 years after accession and only in cases of serious violations that affect the functioning of the European Union.

The measures would be proportionate, while suspension of the right to vote would be reserved only for the most serious violations.

The procedure could be initiated by the European Commission or by several member states, while the final decision would belong to the Council. The proposal does not yet specify by what majority such a decision would be taken.

Safeguard mechanisms are not a new practice in the enlargement process. Previous accession treaties have included similar clauses for serious deficiencies in the implementation of internal market, justice and economy rules.

The Commission wants these clauses, which in the past lasted three years, to have a longer term, without yet specifying the duration.

In future accession treaties, the Commission also wants new countries to commit not to use the unanimity requirement in enlargement matters to resolve bilateral disputes.

The most recent example mentioned is Bulgaria, which continues to block North Macedonia’s accession process because of bilateral disputes, including Sofia’s demand for constitutional changes.

Some of these proposals will require the approval of the member states. However, the Commission aims to include the new safeguard mechanisms from the beginning of November in the EU’s position for Montenegro’s final negotiating chapter.

Gradual integration before accession

The European Commission has also included in the package the idea of “gradual integration”, proposed earlier by France and Germany.

The aim is for candidate countries to be able to benefit from some elements of membership before officially becoming part of the EU.

“This is not a substitute for full membership. The aim is only that countries that perform well can be integrated earlier into those policies or systems of the European Union where they have made progress,” Kos said.

Gradual integration would be applied in areas where both member states and candidate countries benefit. Examples mentioned include supply chain security and energy security.

Candidate countries could be included earlier in European programmes such as Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, receive support from agencies such as Frontex, be partially integrated into the single market, be included in connectivity projects and receive observer status in expert groups and various European institutions.

A more advanced form of integration is also envisaged for countries that are aligned with Brussels on strategic issues and meet the rule-of-law criteria.

The Commission admits that some forms of early integration already exist, but the aim is for the process to become more systematic and tailored to each candidate country, through structured dialogue and dedicated funding.

Pre-accession checks

In the part relating to governance, the Commission wants the annual rule-of-law reports to be extended to more candidate countries and for the recommendations on alignment with EU democratic standards to become more concrete.

The aim is to strengthen the independent institutions that enforce the law and to prepare candidate countries so that, as soon as they accede, they can participate immediately in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

If serious problems appear during the process, measures could be taken up to postponing the accession date.

Brussels also aims to test before accession the capacities of candidate countries to implement rules in priority areas such as border management, single market surveillance, food safety standards, transport networks and the management of cohesion funds.

In areas such as agriculture and the movement of labour, special transitional periods will be negotiated.

Before accession, public procurement procedures, independent audit and anti-fraud capacities will also be checked, as Monitor reports.