CEP – Belgrade and CEPS – Brussels

Template 2.0 for Staged Accession to the EU is a result of the joint research of the European Policy Centre (CEP) – Belgrade and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) – Brussels by Milena Mihajlović, Steven Blockmans, Strahinja Subotić and Michael Emerson, published on 28 August 2023.

The report present presents a comprehensive proposal on how to amend the EU’s current accession policy. It presents the overall structure of the Staged Accession Model, with new specifications on the EU’s ‘fundamentals first’ approach. It lays out the ‘essential elements’ of the proposal, which the authors consider the bare minimum a new enlargement policy revision would need to entail to achieve the Model’s objectives. It unpacks the two pre-accession stages and the benefits of gradual institutional participation as well as increased funding proposed to (potential) candidates as incentives to press on with the most difficult fundamental reforms.

Template 2.0 for Staged Accession to the EU, CEP – Belgrade, and CEPS – Brussels, published on 28 August 2023 is available at the websites of CEP – Belgrade and CEPS – Brussels