For the first time in over a decade, EU enlargement has moved from the margins of the Brussels agenda to its very center. The war in Ukraine has transformed enlargement from a slow, predominantly technical process into an urgent geopolitical imperative, with Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans all advancing\u2014at varying paces\u2014toward membership. However, this renewed momentum runs up against an uncomfortable truth: an EU designed for six founding members, and subsequently expanded to twenty-seven, was never structured to accommodate a Union of thirty or more states without a profound overhaul of its governance system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This panel examines whether the EU\u2019s institutions, decision-making mechanisms, and budget can realistically sustain the current wave of candidate countries without paralyzing the Union itself. Key tensions will be addressed: the conflict between unanimity and qualified majority voting regarding foreign policy and taxation; the redistribution of cohesion funds and agricultural subsidies toward larger, less affluent member states; and political resistance from certain capitals regarding an accelerated or geopolitically driven accession process. The discussion will also analyze what enlargement means for the EU\u2019s very identity: does it remain fundamentally an economic and regulatory union, or is it becoming\u2014through this new wave of accessions\u2014a security and defense union as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The debate will offer the audience a concrete assessment of the extent to which political will, institutional reforms, and European public opinion are prepared to go further in transforming enlargement from a mere promise into a functioning reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30468,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[251,102,213,57],"channel":[],"event_type":[77],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n