EU candidate countries could gain market access before full membership

EU candidate countries should be able to gradually unlock privileges such as partial access to the bloc’s single market to keep them motivated while they wait for full membership, Paris and Berlin have suggested in a new joint paper.

In the discussion paper, circulated ahead of a Western Balkans summit and seen by POLITICO, aspiring EU members could also win observer status at key meetings, as well as other perks, to avoid disenchantment with the process.

The idea would be to bring “candidate countries effectively closer to the EU through a more structured gradual integration, thus providing additional incentives for reforms,” reads the paper circulated Thursday among EU diplomats.

The Franco-German discussion paper coincides with growing frustration with the pace of EU membership talks, especially in the Western Balkans, where countries like North Macedonia have been waiting for more than 20 years to join the bloc.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has laid out an ambitious vision for EU enlargement, saying that Ukraine belongs inside the 27-member union and that Europe could count as many as 30 members by the end of this decade.

Ukraine and Moldova received upbeat news on their membership bids this week when Hungary’s new prime minister, Peter Magyar, said that Budapest would not oppose opening the first negotiating chapter for Kyiv, allowing both applications — which are politically linked — to advance together on June 15.

But the focus on Ukraine has led to growing frustration in the Western Balkans, where officials argue that exceptions are being made for Kyiv while their capitals are being kept waiting without a real perspective on when they will advance.

Montenegro is currently the frontrunner with negotiations in the final stage, while Albania has opened all chapters and hopes to join by 2030. Serbia has opened 22 of the 35 chapters but has only closed two, and North Macedonia is still awaiting the formal start of negotiations due to an ongoing dispute with Bulgaria. Kosovo applied for membership in 2022 but has yet to be granted membership status because it is not recognized by all member countries, and due to ongoing tensions with Serbia.

Indeed, a German discussion paper floated last month proposed an “associate member” status for Ukraine, including bigger interim privileges, with officials arguing that the ongoing war with Russia makes Kyiv a special enlargement case.

Describing the Franco-German paper, an EU official said it was an attempt to inject “new dynamism” into an enlargement process known for being heavily bureaucratic and slow-moving.

To address those concerns, the paper calls for a “new, process-oriented approach which cuts over-formalized hurdles for intermediate steps and simplifies the current methodology.”

The paper notably suggests giving the European Commission, which is in charge of membership negotiations, discretion over whether to open clusters, or formal negotiating chapters, with EU capitals focusing instead on “the substance of reforms” being carried out by a candidate.

Currently, capitals must provide unanimous approval for the opening of each negotiating cluster.

In addition to observer status, the paper proposes perks including access to the bloc’s Horizon and Erasmus student exchange programs, defense integration and even full access to the bloc’s single market once a candidate has completed five negotiating clusters.