Welcome to Euractiv’s Global Europe Brief, your weekly update on the EU from a global perspective. You can subscribe to receive our newsletter here.
Dear readers, good Sunday morning!
In today’s edition:
EU eyes next enlargement chapters
Winners and losers of the EU-Mercosur deal
European defence industry funding drama continued
After the political pledge that EU enlargement will remain one of the “top priorities” of the new European Commission, the focus is slowly moving towards the actual next steps.
A key question for the coming months will be whether the negotiation process is still adequate for the needs of the current geopolitical times.
After only five negotiating chapters in total have been closed in the past decade – each accession country has 35 chapters to negotiate before joining – there has been a growing realisation that stagnation would not be ideal for the enlargement process.
While the ‘merit-based’ approach to enlargement is unlikely to be cast aside, and unanimity for the start and conclusion of accession talks will be retained, a more rapid opening of negotiation chapters has been floated in Brussels.
“The process is merit-based, and democracy and rule of law will remain its backbone. But if candidates deliver, I want to match their efforts,” Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told a forum earlier this week. She pledged to work to “advance the process as quickly and efficiently as possible”.
With the Western Balkans, EU officials now increasingly see a realistic chance to actually move things forward.
Montenegro and Albania, in particular, seem to have better prospects of joining the EU in the coming years under a new, more pragmatic approach.
EU officials say they hope to have up to three more Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC) by the end of this year, including with Montenegro, which could see several of its negotiation chapters closed.
Ukraine – and possibly Moldova – could see progress next year with the opening of the ‘fundamentals’ cluster in the first half of 2025, probably in April or May.
Other candidate countries could still prove more challenging.
Talks with North Macedonia are likely to remain stalemated over objections to amend its constitution. Bosnia and Herzegovina is stuck as progress has been made conditional on the country first completing a number of reforms.
Serbia might have a tough time, with a lack of alignment with the bloc’s foreign policy and concerns over the rule of law stalling Belgrade’s progress, despite Hungary’s push to move forward under its presidency.
Georgia, meanwhile, is drifting in the opposite direction.
However, the speed at which enlargement moves forward and for whom will come down to the willingness of EU capitals.
Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has said she intends to make the case that enlargement and the opening and closing of chapters should be the success of EU member states, not only the EU.
It will be likely Kos’ biggest challenge to secure the commitment of all EU member states to avoid further delays.
A key for this will be the next two rotating EU presidencies – Poland and Denmark – where diplomats have already voiced their intention to drive enlargement forward.
EU IN THE WORLD
SYRIA HEADACHE | Syrian rebels seized Damascus on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed after a stunning offensive across the country, while Assad’s key allies, Russia and Iran, have been distracted by the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon.
The turned tables in the country are likely to cause headaches for Russia, as it is increasingly split between three theatres, meaning Moscow may soon face hard choices.
DEAL SEALED | After more than two decades in the making, a trade deal between the EU and the South American Mercosur trade bloc was dragged over the line in an eleventh-hour summit this week, but the ratification process is expected to be lengthy and tedious.
While the political agreement was hailed as a geopolitical win for the EU, it includes strengthened sustainability provisions and safeguards for sensitive agricultural products. Our colleagues take a look at who wins and who loses in agrifood.
WIDER EUROPE
UKRAINE TROOPS | European capitals are reviving the discussion on deployment of troops to Ukraine to secure a post-ceasefire positioning and avoid being sidelined by the new US administration.
This comes after the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Europe could “play a role” in monitoring a possible ceasefire and verifying whether it was respected.
“So far, these discussions have concerned which countries would be willing to send soldiers to Ukraine and which would not. I believe that nothing should be excluded,” Kallas told Euractiv last week.
DEFENCE BRIEFING
EDF LEAK | Funding research and development to protect undersea cables, including autonomous systems, will be a key part of the 2025 European Defence Fund programme, according to an early draft of the call for application seen by Euractiv.
EDIP DRAMA | EU ambassadors were meant to discuss funding for defence products manufactured under license in the EU under the future European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), but the debate was postponed twice until next week due to a lack of agreement. The latest draft text includes reduced ambitions for securing the EU’s supply in the long term.
STRUGGLING INDUSTRIES | While Europe looks to US companies to buy defence equipment, US officials admit that the military-industrial complex across the pond faces similar issues: staff shortages, slow production, and low stockpiles.
DEFENCE LOANS | Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius wants to present concrete plans for the continent’s military readiness, he told the European Parliament’s security and defence sub-committee this week. He is due to present a White Paper on Defence in the new year, as well as his idea to loan money to capitals for defence.
CABLES ISSUES | The increased number of sabotage alerts and cyber-attacks across the military alliance is pushing NATO members to rethink their hybrid attack strategy, though the task is far from easy.
JORDAN OFFICE | NATO is set to open a new liaison office in Amman, Jordan, in a bid to strengthen its presence in the Middle East.
WHAT ELSE WE’RE READING
ON OUR RADAR NEXT WEEK
EU-Moldova Parliamentary Association Committee meeting
| Tuesday, 10 December 2024 | Brussels, Belgium
European Commission College holds orientation debate on EU-US relations
| Wednesday, 11 December 2024 | Brussels, Belgium
German-Ukrainian Economic Forum
| Wednesday, 11 December 2024 | Berlin, Germany
Ukraine Ministerial
| Thursday, 12 December 2024 | Berlin, Germany
High-Level Conference on Belarus
| Thursday, 12 December 2024 | Brussels, Belgium
Georgia to hold presidential election amid political standoff
| Saturday, 14 December 2024 | Tbilisi, Georgia
PREVIOUS EDITIONS
[Edited by Owen Morgan]
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6755707cef1246cabea736a4c1676189&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.euractiv.com%2Fsection%2Fglobal-europe%2Fnews%2Feu-eyes-more-pragmatic-enlargement-approach%2F&c=4072006548811897021&mkt=de-de
Author :
Publish date : 2024-12-08 01:52:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
