The Granada Summit achieves a joint declaration to debate the enlargement of the European Union

2023-10-06 19:27:53

The European Summit in Granada, a milestone of the Spanish presidency of the European Union, harbored the ambition of becoming the starting point for the expansion of the community club. And he has achieved it because he has achieved a joint declaration despite the fact that the immigration debate that is going through the European institutions has threatened to blow him up. The Granada Declaration (a text that guides EU policies) becomes the basis for reflecting on the future of the community club and Ursula von der Leyen herself has explained that, starting in November, new steps will be taken because will have at their disposal the Commission’s annual report on accession. “This will allow us to have an informed debate at the European Council in December,” she said.

The president of the European Commission, who has made a positive assessment of the results achieved in the last 18 months to reinforce Europe’s autonomy in the face of the Russian invasion, has said that the enlargement of the EU must be based on “merit” : “It has been an important element. There can be no shortcuts.” That is, Von der Leyen emphasizes both the work of the EU countries to be prepared and the compliance of the candidate countries with the requirements.

Pedro Sánchez has also referred to enlargement and has outlined the three areas that will gain prominence: the adaptation of European policies (the CAP, cohesion funds or citizen mobility); institutional reforms (decision making); and what type of expansion (gradually or completely, with all countries at the same pace).

At the moment, the time horizon is poorly defined because there are disparate voices: while Charles Michel is committed to giving himself until 2030, UrsulavonderLeyen avoids dates. The president of the European Commission is committed to the EU working to be prepared to absorb more countries while the candidate states work to meet the requirements demanded of them. Currently, there are 27 countries and, since 2013 with Croatia, no more countries have entered and the idea is to reach 35 since there are eight candidates knocking on the door.

However, all of them have to meet certain requirements to be able to integrate without causing an earthquake. In fact, Ukraine is the country that has taken the greatest prominence right now, but doubts hang over its possibilities. And, furthermore, with leaders of different political sensitivities. If Jean-Claude Juncker dealt a hard blow to Ukrainians on Wednesday by reproaching their high levels of corruption, this Friday it was ViktorOrbán (Hungary) who put a blow to Ukraine’s aspirations: in this sense, he has shown very in favor of taking steps to welcome Georgia while he has “many doubts” about Ukraine because it is a “country at war.”

Furthermore, Orbán revealed an aspect that can also strain the seams of Europe: economic resources, since the entry of new countries will make those that are currently there worsen their situation (many beneficiaries will become net contributors). Ukraine has an addition: it would probably drain many of the resources of common agricultural policies.

The same doubts projected by Hungary exist in Belgium or Ireland. Although each with their own nuances: Alexander de Croo (Belgium) considers that Europe “is not ready” for an enlargement because it is advisable to make reforms beforehand while Leo Varadkar (Ireland) has called for calm and to avoid haste.

The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has opted for a “tailored approach” since “there are ten candidates and each one needs a specific approach”: that is, aligning himself with the gradualists, those who bet on a step by step integration. Slovenia has also been in favor of gradualism

Faced with these doubts, Germany and France are trying to lead the enlargement process with a reform plan that changes the decision-making processes to avoid unanimity on different issues. Spain is also favorable to enlargement since, according to Pedro Sánchez, our country must be “empathetic” just as the rest of the countries were in the 80s when we joined.

Finland and Estonia, countries that are on the Kremlin’s radar, are also in favor of EU enlargement practically as a space for “self-protection” against Russian temptations. PetteriOrpo (Finland) has assured that enlargement is a “geopolitical necessity” of the European Union while KajaKallas (Estonia) has urged to address this debate “as soon as possible.”