'No more Viktor Orbán': EU plans 15-year probation period for new member states
4 hours ago
- The European Commission proposes safeguards to prevent future EU members like Orbán from undermining democratic values, including a 15-year probation period with potential loss of voting rights or funds.
- New member states would face lower thresholds for sanctions compared to the rarely-used Article 7, aiming to enforce rule of law and sincere cooperation.
- EU enlargement is revived by Russia's Ukraine invasion (2022), with Montenegro, Albania, Moldova, and Ukraine as frontrunners; but unanimous approval from 27 members remains challenging.
- Russia and China are seen as external forces influencing candidate countries, while EU officials stress enlargement as a strategic interest to counter such influence.
- EU may open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on internal market and competitiveness clusters next week; however, grain subsidies for Ukraine are excluded due to production scale differences.
- To avoid gridlock in a 35-member EU, governments may need to waive veto rights on taxation and sanctions, and accept potentially fewer commissioners per state.