Warsaw (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – European Parliament President Roberta Metsola insists European Union reform to cope with enlargement.
Why Does Metsola Believe the EU’s Current Design Is Insufficient?
The European Union’s current design would not be appropriate if it were to include more than 30 partners, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola expressed after meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw.
According to sources, neither gave a press conference after their engagement, but Tusk’s office expressed the two discussed priorities for the new European Parliament and the next EU Commission, including EU enlargement, which Roberta Metsola reportedly expressed as the bloc’s “strongest geopolitical tool” that also required change and reform.
What Role Does EU Enlargement Play in Geopolitics, According to Metsola?
“Our Union is a constantly changing scheme which requires constant adjusting. We have to comprehend that the current structure of the EU will not be appropriate any more in a Union counting 32, 33 or 35 members,” she said.
Among other items, the EU must maintain its security architecture “in cooperation and not in competition with NATO”, Metsola stated, noting that the war in Ukraine “remains a constant danger to the EU’s security, its democratic system, its stability, its values and the European way of life”. Among other challenges confronting the EU and the European Parliament in the coming years, Metsola also recognised the need to improve the bloc’s competitiveness, crack the cost of living crisis, create jobs and encourage sustainable development.
While she did not draft any specific policy priorities for the next European Commission, she stated that the conclusion to be drawn from June’s European elections was that people voted for a favourable Europe that sets and achieves its objectives and that the new EU Commission’s programme must deliver on that.
After the gathering in Warsaw, Metsola journeyed to Olsztyn in northern Poland to meet Polish young people at the Campus Polska Przyszłości (Poland of the Future), a youth camp managed by Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO, EPP) bloc. Poland will maintain the EU Council presidency in the first half of 2025.
