Vienna (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Two new member states, Montenegro and Albania, could join the European Union by 2030, Austria’s minister Karoline Edtstadler said.
What Is Austria’s Proposal for Montenegro and Albania’s EU Membership?
The European Union should accept Montenegro and Albania as member states by 2030, with the European Commission urging other candidates through “gradual enlargement”, Austria’s minister for Europe has said. Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution at the Federal Chancellery of Austria, Karoline Edtstadler expressed on the fringes of Forum Alpbach, the annual policy congress in the Tyrol, during which she partook in a panel on expanding the EU.
How Will Montenegro and Albania Be Integrated into the EU by 2030?
“I think there will be 29 EU members by 2030, with Montenegro joining in 2028 and Albania in 2030, since I’ve seen first hand … how engaged and ambitious they both are in the process,” Edtstadler said, after she visited both countries in April. We can push against rising nationalism in the candidate countries — especially the Western Balkans — but only if we give incentives, and this should be done through gradual integration,” she expressed.
What Role Will Gradual Enlargement Play in EU’s Future Expansion?
Gradual enlargement suggests that countries seeking admission would be delivered partial benefits of EU membership as they overcome typical conditions, rather than the all-or-nothing system that rewards only those who fully accede.
“For instance, where a cluster of chapters is shut, but full integration remains pending, the EU should permit access on a gradual basis to reflect those finished chapters, especially about the single market, e.g. SEPA,” Edtstadler stated, referring to a current EU system that allows unified payments among banks. This would provide them the feeling that they are already getting there,” she said.
Another step would be to invite candidate countries to join discussions in Brussels more frequently, which would allow their politicians to inform citizens first-hand about the process, according to Edtstadler. “I’m fully convinced that this idea of gradual integration will be adopted by the next EU Commission because there is no option to the accession process,” she said.
Gradual enlargement was also praised by Lithuania’s next European Commissioner, Andrius KubiliusIn the interview, Kubilius, who was twice Lithuania’s Prime Minister, highlighted the geopolitical case for returning to an early-2000s style growth philosophy that saw ten new countries join the bloc at once.
“There are even some concepts that, first of all, the country should leap into the single market, then should go with all other chapters: so-called advanced integration or phased integration,” he expressed.
