The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday regarding the European Union’s enlargement process, through which it called for this process to become more efficient, including by removing the use of veto for member states.
The resolution also demands that the EU have a more efficient budget, so it can manage the expansion with new member states.
The resolution was supported by 305 deputies, while 157 deputies voted against it, and 71 abstained.
Currently, the European Union must find consensus for each decision in the field of foreign policy and security, including the enlargement process. This often leads to decisions being blocked by a member state through veto, even when all others were in favor.
This is the latest resolution on the enlargement process that the European Parliament has approved in this composition, as new elections in the bloc will be held in June.
This institution of the EU has strongly supported the enlargement process, and with this resolution, it demands that the EU be reformed before it expands.
The European Parliament also supports the gradual integration of candidate countries into the EU’s single market during the enlargement process, even before they become formal members of the bloc.
“The EU needs a long-term political vision and institutional and financial reforms to ensure capacities for absorbing new members,” the resolution text approved by the European Parliament deputies on Thursday states.
MEPs call for preparations for enlargement to take place simultaneously both in the European Union and in candidate countries. They also demand stronger protection of the European Union’s democratic values and the rule of law.
Regarding the institutional reforms of the European Union, the resolution calls for those reforms to facilitate the decision-making process, to remove the requirement for consensus, and to have more flexible mechanisms. It proposes the use of qualified majority voting to improve the balance between larger and smaller member states.
The European Parliament also demands that EU institutions begin to address the impact that the acceptance of new member states will have on the composition of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Although they demand that the EU sets specific goals for the reforms of candidate countries, they are against setting timeframes for the accession of any country to the EU.
