The rule of law in EU enlargement policy

Abstract Russia’s war in Ukraine has revived the European Union’s enlargement policy, placing it at the forefront of the EU’s priorities. This process is being viewed as the next phase of EU enlargement, encompassing the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. This article examines the new framework for EU accession negotiations adopted in 2022, which regrouped the chapters of the acquis (presently 35 negotiating chapters) into six clusters. The article presents a case study on the Western Balkans, highlighting both their achievements and shortcomings in strengthening the rule of law and how the new framework is being applied to them. It analyses whether the EU has expanded the rule of law conditionality across the negotiating chapters in the new clusters format as a pre-emptive measure regarding EU candidate states’ ability to uphold the rule of law and their commitments to fundamental rights before joining the Union. Furthermore, it assesses whether the reform of the EU accession negotiations framework has been influenced by the experience of rule of law erosion and backsliding in Poland and Hungary, as well as assessing the reasons for including some EU candidate states from the Western Balkans in the annual Rule of Law Report mechanism while conditioning EU funds on their respect for the rule of law.