BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission will soon propose that the EU allocate more funding to countries interested in joining and grant them access to the single market in order to expedite their membership preparations, stated EU Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi.
Currently, there are eight countries with official EU candidate status: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine; while Georgia and Kosovo are potential candidate countries.
Charles Michel, the chair of European Union leaders, has urged the EU to be prepared to admit new members and for candidates to meet the entry criteria by 2030.
“In a couple of weeks’ time, you will see us presenting a new approach to enlargement and a package that will now include 10 candidate countries or countries with a European perspective,” explained Varhelyi during a news conference.
“In that report, we not only aim to move forward but also to provide the means for accelerated integration,” he added, following a meeting in Spain where EU ministers discussed how the EU should prepare for new members.
Varhelyi announced that the EU would assist the candidates in expediting their preparations for EU membership through a growth plan for the Western Balkans, with the aim of reducing the “economic and social gap” between these countries and the rest of the EU before accession.
As part of the plan, the countries would gradually gain access to the EU’s single market, which consists of 450 million consumers and allows for the free movement of goods, services, labor, and capital, even before becoming full EU members.
“We want to create the opportunity to gradually integrate these countries into the single market, into the four freedoms, already before accession because this will be for the benefit of both the European Union and the candidate countries,” explained Varhelyi.
In addition, the Commission’s proposal would advocate for increased EU funding for the candidates to expedite the necessary reforms to join the 27-nation bloc. The exact amount of funding was not specified.
This funding would be in addition to the EU’s existing pre-accession assistance for candidate countries, which amounts to 14.2 billion euros ($14.98 billion) in the 2021-2027 EU budget.
Varhelyi stated that these measures would demonstrate the EU’s readiness to welcome new members and place the responsibility on the candidate countries to fully utilize these opportunities.
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(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Mark Potter)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
