The European Commission wants to offer countries that are at the front of the queue to join the EU access to the lucrative single market. But what benefits and perks do EU candidates already enjoy?
Brussels is struggling to preserve the credibility of EU enlargement prospects. No one has joined the club since 2013 and in the meantime one member, the United Kingdom, has left and another wealthy potential, Iceland, has said thanks, no thanks.
There is a queue of countries that would like to join but you could only say that maybe one or two are nearabouts ready to step through the door and take their place at the top table. So the rest of the aspirants need to be kept sweet while reforms are put in place.
That is why the Commission is working on a plan that would grant a select few of the candidate countries privileged access to the single market, one of the main carrots that convince countries to submit membership applications in the first place.
According to reports, countries that respect the EU’s democratic expectations will be treated to more frictionless trade and allowed to participate in programmes that are usually only open to full members.
Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine would initially be offered a roadmap of sorts and they would be expected to support EU foreign policy objectives, such as Russia sanctions, and pledge not to share any sensitive technologies or information with trade rivals.
This is the latest in a recent push by Brussels to keep the enlargement process relevant. Last month, the Commission indicated that it would offer Canada a form of associated membership, although the exact details of what that would look like still need to be decided.
There were also plans recently to give candidate nations greater political say during their accession journeys, including allowing them to attend certain EU meetings and summits. That idea, however, was shot down by existing members.
Candidate countries already enjoy some perks, chief among which are so-called pre-accession funds, designed to help EU potentials carry out reforms and build infrastructure needed to align with all the criteria required of membership seekers.
Technical assistance is also provided by Brussels to help carry out those reforms and national experts are often seconded through taskforces to help national governments make more progress.
Trade fluidity is also greatly enhanced when you are granted candidate status, as those countries normally have association or stability agreements that reduce or remove trade barriers in sectors like agriculture.
Money talks. So if the Commission can offer an even better proposal based around better access to the single market, then it might convince some of the countries that have stalled in their EU odysseys to regroup and redouble their efforts.
As ever though, the true power remains with the countries that have already joined. Perhaps this will be a perk too far for them.
