The European Commission is considering country-specific accession roadmaps for Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova, potentially introducing clearer reform priorities, deliverables and indicative timelines for completing negotiations. The proposed approach would give the four frontrunners greater certainty that sustained progress on reforms will lead towards membership, while also placing clearer obligations on EU Member States to advance the process. However, limiting the roadmaps to the most advanced candidates risks formalising a two-speed enlargement process. North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo would not be included at this stage, while the accession processes of Serbia and Türkiye remain stalled amid concerns over democratic and judicial backsliding. The initiative is expected to accompany a broader review of gradual integration and the EU’s internal preparedness for enlargement, including possible safeguards and transition periods for new members. While the roadmaps could make merit-based accession more credible for countries demonstrating progress, their wider impact will depend on whether the EU also offers a realistic route forward for candidates left outside the frontrunner group. Read more here.
Source: POLITICO Europe
