Unblocking decision-making in EU enlargement – Qualified Majority Voting as a way forward?

Clingendael Institute, DGAP, ELIAMEP

June 2024

In a new policy brief, Clingenael Institute, DGAP and ELIAMEP partner to tackle the issue of unblocking decision-making in EU enlargement and deliberating Qualified Majority Voting as a way forward.

The EU enlargement process has been bogged down for at least the past decade say the authors Wouter Zweers, Dr Isabelle Ioannides, Zoran Nechev
and Nikola Dimitrov. While the new geopolitical landscape and urgency created following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought EU enlargement back to the fore, bottlenecks remain in the EU enlargement decision-making process.

This paper contributes to the debate on how to reform EU decision-making on EU enlargement so as to make it more effective and, by extension, so that the EU regains its credibility in its neighbourhood and beyond.

The analysis explores the limits of unanimity in the EU accession negotiations, especially when individual Member States obstruct the process over bilateral issues unrelated to the formal membership criteria. To streamline EU enlargement, this briefing explores the potential of qualified majority
voting (QMV) at key intermediary stages of the accession process.

If the EU is serious about its ambition to be a geopolitical actor, considering the political, legal and institutional implications of QMV in EU enlargement will be key.

You can find the full text of the policy brief Unblocking decision-making in EU enlargement – Qualified Majority Voting as a way forward? here.

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