Thread by @OSchwarzUDE

I understand statements like these. But the point is: #EUenlargement no longer has any credibility. And until the MS give up their prerogative right of unanimity, valuable years will pass, which we no longer have in my eyes. We are currently losing the #WesternBalkans. (1/9)

https://twitter.com/_ManuelMueller/status/1531561143080198144

Each enlargement so far has been a political decision. In the case of #Bulgaria and #Romania, the EU was willing to bear the costs of insufficient accession capacity. At the same time, with the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, a relatively smart instrument was found. (2/9)

So why wait decades until the #WesternBalkans are 100% ready for accession? Why not take another risk, make a political descision and put appropriate safeguards in place? I think #Ukraine's application opens a unique window of opportunity to redesign EU enlargement. (3/9)

I hope that the @EU_Commission, in preparing its opinion on #Ukraine's application, will take this opportunity. There are enough concrete proposals for this. Take @AndrewDuffEU, who has been promoting some form of affiliate membership for years. politico.eu/article/ukrain… (4/9)

Take the proposal of a European Political Community put forward by French president @EmmanuelMacron (although here the idea is probably more to keep the #WesternBalkans out, not to bring them in). euractiv.com/section/future… (5/9)

I also find the recent ideas put forward by MSC chief @MSCheusgen at least worth discussing. Why no participation in the @EUCouncil and other institutions? At least as an observer. The key thing is not to have any additional veto players. welt.de/politik/auslan… (6/9)

The most sophisticated proposal at the moment is that of staged accession, put forward by @CEPS_thinktank and @CEPBelgrade. I hope the Commission has taken note of the ideas of @milenalazarevic, @StevenBlockmans, @mr_Subotic and Michael Emerson. ceps.eu/ceps-publicati… (7/9)

The basic idea of #EUenlargement must be the earliest possible and most comprehensive participation of candidate states willing to join. The instruments are all available. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of political will to implement them. As is so often the case. (8/9)

I mean, I wrote about this in my dissertation more than 10 years ago and #EUenlargement has remained almost unchanged since then. This is how we are burying a once successful "Überinstrument". A fundamental reform must come. If not now, when? doi.org/10.5771/978384… #Zeitenwende