The European Union is working on creating a system of safeguards for future members of the bloc. The new mechanisms are designed to prevent the rollback of reforms after accession and prevent abuse of the veto right, as Hungary has repeatedly done. This was stated by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos in an interview with Politico.
According to her, if the new member states comply with the established rules, no sanctions will be applied to them. However, in case of violations, the response mechanisms will be tough. The European Commission is currently consulting with the bloc countries on possible instruments of influence. Among the options being considered are the introduction of transitional periods before granting full membership rights, as well as special measures in case of deviation from democratic standards.
The reason for such changes was the experience of interaction with Budapest. The Hungarian authorities regularly blocked EU decisions on sanctions against russia and financial support for Ukraine. Due to problems with the rule of law, Brussels has already frozen more than EUR 10 billion of European funds for Hungary.
Marta Kos assured that the updated approaches do not cancel the individual principle of assessing candidates, so countries with more progress will move faster. While Ukraine and Moldova have started the first round of detailed accession negotiations, Montenegro has come closest to membership, having closed two more negotiation chapters. Its accession treaty may become the first document to officially prescribe new control rules.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, five influential states of the European Union are proposing to temporarily limit the voting rights of future new members of the bloc on key strategic issues. The corresponding official document for internal discussion was prepared by Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
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