EU Commission to propose bypassing national vetoes to enable enlargement beyond 30 members
The European Commission is preparing a reform package that would allow EU enlargement past 30 members by replacing national vetoes with qualified majority voting at intermediate stages of a candidate's accession. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is to present the plan next week alongside an enlargement strategy. The reform still needs unanimous approval from all 27 member states and is expected to face opposition.
Key points
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will present the enlargement reform plan next week.
- The package uses so-called passerelle clauses to replace unanimity with qualified majority voting at many intermediate stages of accession; the start and end of membership negotiations would still require unanimity.
- Qualified majority threshold cited as 15 states with at least 65% of the EU population; one reporting version says 15 states representing two-thirds of the bloc's population.
- Qualified majority voting would be extended to sanctions, human rights, defence and security, and tax avoidance.
- The reform could speed up accession for Ukraine, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania.
- A 10+ year probation with enhanced Brussels monitoring is proposed for new members, who would also have to join the European Public Prosecutor's Office before joining.
- Adopting the reform itself requires unanimous consent of all 27 member states, and is expected to meet opposition from many of them.
Why it matters
The reform would strip individual EU member states of the ability to block candidate countries at intermediate stages of accession, directly shaping Ukraine's path to membership. It is described by the Rapporteur publication as the largest change to the EU's internal functioning in a decade, extending qualified majority voting to sanctions, human rights, defence and security, and tax policy. Because adopting the reform itself still requires unanimous approval from all 27 member states, and is expected to face opposition, the proposal faces a difficult path even though it does not require amending the Lisbon Treaty.
What happened
The European Commission is set to present a package of reforms aimed at preparing the EU for enlargement to more than 30 members, without amending the Lisbon Treaty. At its core, the plan uses so-called passerelle clauses to drop the unanimity requirement at many intermediate stages of a candidate's accession process; only the opening and closing of membership negotiations would still require consensus from all member states. The Commission proposes a qualified majority threshold of 15 states representing either at least 65% of the EU population or two-thirds of it, depending on the reporting version, and wants to apply qualified majority voting more broadly across sanctions, human rights, defence and security, and tax avoidance. For countries reluctant to give up veto power, the draft includes an emergency brake a government could trigger over vital national interests. After enlargement, only about two-thirds of member states would have a commissioner; under today's EU that would leave nine countries without a seat in Brussels. New members would face a probation of at least 10 years under enhanced monitoring, must join the European Public Prosecutor's Office before accession, sign a legally binding commitment not to block decisions agreed by the others, and could lose their Council voting rights and face fines for backsliding on democratic and judicial standards. The reform is expected to accelerate accession for Ukraine, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania, while the four "leader" candidates — Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova and Albania — are to receive membership roadmaps. The Commission also proposes a phased integration into the single market for candidates, covering areas such as semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, AI and space. Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos announced the new monitoring mechanisms, and the wider Commission assessment of how enlargement would affect EU policies has been postponed to 6 October.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All supplied sources are Ukrainian-language outlets. Coverage centers on what the reform means for Ukraine's accession timeline and on the proposed bypass of national vetoes. Ukrainian reporting adds detail on the emergency brake for incumbent members, the post-2013 enlargement freeze, the Commission's view that Ukraine and Moldova are ready to open all negotiation clusters, and the role of enlargement commissioner Marta Kos. It also highlights the proposed phased single-market integration for candidates, including access to research programs and cooperation in semiconductors, quantum, biotech, AI and space, and notes that the reform effort is being steered by a leading adviser to the Commission president who previously served in the French presidential office.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the precise definition of the qualified majority threshold for the reform: some describe it as 15 states representing at least 65% of the EU population, while others describe it as 15 states representing two-thirds of the bloc's population.
Background
The EU has not admitted a new member since Croatia joined in 2013. A June proposal from Germany, France and three other countries had suggested temporarily restricting the voting rights of new members. The Commission has postponed to 6 October its broader assessment of how enlargement would affect EU policies. Four "leader" candidates — Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova and Albania — are to receive membership roadmaps; accession for North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Turkey is described as delayed. The package also proposes a 10+ year probation under enhanced Brussels monitoring and pre-accession membership in the European Public Prosecutor's Office.