EU enlargement chief Marta Kos on Tuesday previewed the European Commission’s proposal to overhaul the bloc’s enlargement process, outlining plans for gradual integration, stricter candidate vetting and a new methodology as the process enters what she called a new “Helsinki Moment”.
“The world has changed. And enlargement must change with it,” European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos told the Croatian Ambassadors Conference in Zagreb on Tuesday.
In her speech, Kos outlined the main elements of the upcoming pre-enlargement policy review — a long-shelved initiative examining what a European Union of more than 30 member states could look like. The Commission has revived the issue to regain the initiative ahead of a critical discussion among EU leaders in October.
For the Slovenian Commissioner, the EU is facing a new “Helsinki Moment”, referring to the gathering of European leaders in the Finnish capital that paved the way for the post-Cold War “Big Bang” enlargement, when 10 new countries joined the bloc.
She pointed in particular to Montenegro’s swift progress as the frontrunner to join the Union, Albania’s progress in meeting key rule-of-law benchmarks, significant technical advances by Ukraine and Moldova, and Iceland’s vote to resume its accession process.
