European Commission proposes 15-year probation period for new EU members — The Guardian

In Brussels, Belgium, the European Commission has proposed establishing a 15-year probation period for new EU member states. During this period, countries could be stripped of voting rights or EU funding for violating democratic values or the principle of sincere cooperation with the EU. The initiative must be approved by the bloc’s current member states.

As The Guardian reports, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos presented the proposals as part of the EU’s preparations for the possible admission of new countries from Eastern Europe. According to her, the EU needs faster response mechanisms than the procedure under Article 7 of the EU Treaty if new members violate the principles of the rule of law, democracy and shared values.

Lower threshold for sanctions

Article 7 of the EU Treaty allows a member state to be stripped of voting rights in the event of a serious and persistent breach of democratic values. However, this mechanism, known as the “nuclear option,” has never been used, despite lengthy discussions about departures from democratic standards in Poland and Hungary under previous governments.

Under the new plan, the threshold for suspending voting rights or imposing other measures for violations of democratic norms will be lower. At the same time, Marta Kos stressed that such a safeguard cannot be indefinite, as this would create a division between first- and second-class member states.

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Enlargement and negotiations with candidates

The initiative comes amid an intensification of the EU’s enlargement policy. Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine are among the countries named as leaders in this process. All 27 current EU members must unanimously approve the accession of a new state.

EU officials expect to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova next week on two thematic clusters of EU legislation — the internal market and competitiveness. They cover, among other things, economic and monetary policy, taxation, research and media. Kos also said that it is still too early to consider whether a country at war or with a frozen conflict on its territory can become an EU member.

Separately, the European commissioner confirmed that Ukrainian farmers will not receive EU subsidies as long as restrictions on Ukrainian grain remain in force on the EU market. EU leaders are also to discuss a possible abandonment of veto rights in taxation and sanctions matters to avoid decisions being blocked in a potential union of 35 members.