The European Commission presented new voting rules ahead of EU enlargement

The European Commission has proposed making wider use of qualified majority voting, particularly when opening negotiating clusters with EU candidate countries. This would allow some decisions to be made without the mandatory unanimous support of all member states.

This was reported by the European Commission.

In particular, the EC recommends using qualified majority voting to open negotiation clusters, as well as to adopt interim decisions in the accession process.

The Commission also proposes to use transitional provisions in the EU treaties to move to qualified majority voting in certain other areas, including sanctions, the fight against tax fraud and fiscal measures in energy policy.

At the same time, it is proposed to supplement the mechanism with safeguards to protect the key national interests of member states.

The European Commission has paid special attention to the rule of law in future EU members. Monitoring should begin before accession, and the European Commission’s rule of law report will be gradually extended to other candidate countries.

For future accession treaties, it is also proposed to provide for special mechanisms for responding to serious violations after a country joins the EU.

In the most serious cases, possible measures include suspending the voting rights of a new member state .

In addition, the Commission proposes to strengthen the safeguard mechanisms in the areas of economy, internal market, justice and home affairs. They want to significantly extend the period during which they can be applied after the accession of a new country.

Another proposed mechanism concerns the first years of membership. For a limited period, a new state could commit not to block EU decisions on further enlargement or bilateral disputes.

The European Commission also advocates for the gradual integration of candidates into certain parts of the internal market before full membership. Priority areas include energy, transport, the digital sector and defence .

Access to such opportunities will depend on the country’s progress in preparing for accession, its readiness in a specific area, and policy coherence with the European Union.

For Ukraine, such a proposal is of immediate importance against the backdrop of difficulties in advancing the negotiation process. As a reminder, on September 29, Hungary again blocked the approval of the screening results of clusters No. 2 and No. 3 for Ukraine .

It was previously reported that the European Commission is preparing a wider use of qualified majority voting instead of unanimity at certain intermediate stages of EU enlargement. These proposals have now been officially presented.

The package will form the basis for a strategic discussion among member states on EU enlargement and internal reforms at the European Council meeting in October.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , X , Telegram , and Instagram .