German top aide: No EU-reform, no enlargement

Germany will only agree to the accession of new member states if this process is accompanied by a reform of the EU in order not to jeopardise the bloc’s ability to act, said Jörg Kukies, state secretary at the Federal Chancellery and top adviser to Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a EURACTIV event.

The call for EU reform has so far been met with resistance – especially from Eastern and Scandinavian member states, but Berlin is confident that a consensus on reforming the EU can be reached. 

According to Kukies, the success of the EU reform would boil down to “how hard we negotiate” and “how clearly we communicate that we will only allow enlargement if there are institutional reforms.”

“As the German government, we have very clear positions on this, and the answer is that we need institutional reform. At least at the same time as enlargement,” he added at the EURACTIV event on Friday.

The German government has highlighted the importance of reforming the EU since it took office last year. The coalition agreement even commits the government to push for developing the EU as a European federation. 

The German government has since adopted a more “pragmatic” approach that seeks institutional reform within the existing treaty framework.

While Scholz said during his speech at Charles University in Prague that the treaties “aren’t set in stone”, he particularly emphasised the need to switch from unanimity to majority voting in foreign or tax policy fields – something that can already be done under the existing treaty.

While falling short of changing the treaties of the EU, this would nonetheless constitute an “enormously far-reaching institutional reform,” Kukies said.

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Convincing the sceptics

Germany is not alone in its push to reform the EU as other large member states like France or Spain are also keen to reform the bloc. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also embraced the idea and gave her backing for a constitutional convention leading to treaty reform in her state of the union speech in September. 

However, several member states have already made clear that they oppose the move. Following the conclusion of the Conference on the Future of Europe in May, thirteen Eastern European and Scandinavian member states warned in a joint position paper of “unconsidered and premature attempts to launch a process towards treaty change.”

While making the reform of the EU a precondition of enlargement could slow down the enlargement process considerably, it could also break the deadlock and open the gates for reform.

“If you look at this non-paper of the thirteen member states […] that have expressed criticism of institutional reform, these are mostly states that stand for quick enlargement,” Nicolai von Ondarza, head of the research division on the EU at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) said at the event. 

According to Ondarza, this could open up avenues to convince the critics. “This perspective of the EU of 30 plus in the time frame of the next ten years is in my opinion, a the key to institutional reform,” he said. “If we don’t manage to open the door to new reforms of the EU before the next enlargement, then this momentum is gone for good,” he added.

Enlargement could be bargaining chip to trigger EU-Reform

While the calls for EU reform are gaining momentum, several member-states oppose the proposal for treaty change. In the end, EU enlargement could be the main bargaining chip to launch the reform process.

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