How to make EU enlargement a fairer and merit‐based process: A legal and policy analysis

Abstract Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the topic of EU enlargement has reached the top of the EU policy agenda, swiftly granting candidate status to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and unblocking some of the stalled accession processes in the Western Balkans. The paper examines the formal and substantive EU membership criteria and proposes ways to improve the accession process to make it more effective, fair and merit‐based. The paper recommends that the EU should improve its EU enlargement policy by adopting a two‐step accession process: joining the EU Single Market within 5 years of opening accession talks and achieving full EU membership within 10 years—subject to demonstrating a track record in upholding the EU's fundamental values. It also recommends improving the decision‐making process extending qualified‐majority voting (QMV) to EU enlargement policy to prevent Member States from politicising the accession process on issues unrelated to EU enlargement.