European Commission plans to bypass national vetoes to enable EU enlargement
The European Commission is preparing a reform package that would replace some unanimity requirements with qualified majority voting, allowing the EU to expand beyond 27 members without amending the Lisbon Treaty. President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to present the plan next week, with potential implications for the accession prospects of Ukraine, Montenegro, Moldova, Albania, and North Macedonia.
Key points
- The European Commission will propose reforms to bypass national vetoes in EU decision-making.
- President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to present the enlargement plan next week.
- The proposal aims to prepare the EU for expansion beyond 30 members without amending the Lisbon Treaty.
- Transitional provisions would remove the unanimity requirement at intermediate stages of a candidate country's accession.
- A lower qualified majority threshold — 15 countries representing two-thirds of the bloc's population — would apply to sanctions, human rights, defence, security, and tax policy.
- Adoption of the reform itself would require unanimous agreement from the 27 member states.
- Roadmaps to membership are being developed for Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania.
Why it matters
The proposed changes represent the largest reforms to the EU's internal functioning in the last decade. By replacing some unanimity requirements with qualified majority voting, the reforms could remove the ability of a single member state to block decisions, which has frustrated enlargement for years. For Ukraine, along with Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, and Albania, this could substantially accelerate accession. However, because adopting the reform itself requires unanimous consent, it may encounter resistance from existing member states.
What happened
The European Commission is preparing a reform package designed to enable EU enlargement beyond its current 27 members without amending the Lisbon Treaty. President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to present the plan next week. According to internal draft documents seen by the publication Rapporteur, the Commission proposes using transitional legal provisions to remove the unanimity requirement among the 27 member states at many intermediate stages of a candidate country's accession process. It also proposes extending a lower qualified majority voting threshold — 15 countries representing two-thirds of the EU's population — to a broader range of policy areas, including sanctions, human rights, defence and security, and tax evasion. The changes could speed up the accession process for candidate countries such as Ukraine, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, which have faced obstacles from a small number of EU members. The Commission postponed to 6 October its broader assessment of how future enlargement would affect EU policies, and separately is developing membership roadmaps for Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language reporting frames the reform through the lens of Ukraine's own accession prospects, emphasizing that bypassing national vetoes could remove a long-standing obstacle to its membership path. Both supplied sources are Ukrainian media outlets that highlight the implications for Ukraine's EU integration alongside the broader institutional changes.
Background
The European Commission postponed to 6 October its assessment of how future EU enlargement would affect key EU policies and what institutional changes the bloc itself might need. Separately, the EU is developing membership roadmaps for Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania, which are considered leaders in European integration. The decision-making reform component will be presented as a separate part of the broader enlargement strategy document.