Memo to the commissioner responsible for enlargement

Memo

Memo to the commissioner responsible for enlargement

Publishing date: 04 September 2024
Authors: Zsolt Darvas Heather Grabbe

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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine dramatically changed geopolitical risk calculations and brought new momentum to enlargement, especially in relation to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The accession process for the countries of the Western Balkans has also gained new impetus. However, future enlargement will likely deepen the clash with Russia, and an inconsistent accession process for Western Balkan countries has undermined the EU’s credibility.

In this context, you will need to renew the EU’s commitment to enlargement, proposing, but not guaranteeing, a target date for countries to join. You should ensure that the focus on Ukraine and Moldova does not disadvantage the Western Balkans and each country can advance on its merits within a streamlined process. You should prioritise ways ensure post-accession compliance with rule-of-law standards, while dispelling myths about the EU being unable to cope with further enlargement.

Key actions:

Recommit to enlargement and boost credibility
Remove unnecessary blockages from the enlargement process
Involve candidates progressively in EU policies

Read the full memo by clicking the download button at the top of this page.

About the authors

Zsolt Darvas

Zsolt Darvas is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel and a part-time Senior Research Fellow at the Corvinus University of Budapest. He joined Bruegel in 2008 as a Visiting Fellow, and became a Research Fellow in 2009 and a Senior Fellow in 2013.

From 2005 to 2008, he was the Research Advisor of the Argenta Financial Research Group in Budapest. Before that, he worked at the research unit of the Central Bank of Hungary (1994-2005) where he served as Deputy Head.

Zsolt holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Corvinus University of Budapest where he teaches courses in Econometrics but also at other institutions since 1994. His research interests include macroeconomics, international economics, central banking and time series analysis.
Heather Grabbe

Heather Grabbe is a Senior fellow at Bruegel, as well as visiting professor at University College London and KU Leuven. The focus of her research is the political economy of the European Green Deal and how the climate transition will change the EU’s international relationships and external policies.

She is a political scientist who has served as director of the Open Society European Policy Institute in Brussels, and earlier as deputy director of the Centre for European Reform in London. She conducted academic research at the European University Institute, Chatham House, Oxford and Birmingham universities, as well as teaching at the London School of Economics. From 2004 to 2009 Heather was senior advisor to then European Commissioner Olli Rehn, responsible in his Cabinet for policy on the Balkans and Turkey. She has written extensively on the political economy of EU enlargement, the EU’s external and neighbourhood policies, and the evolution of new policy agendas in climate, digital and the rule of law. Her columns appear in the Financial Times, Politico and other quality media.

Heather earned her PhD at Birmingham University, and her first degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University, where she also had a post-doctoral fellowship. She is fluent in English, French and Italian, with working level German.