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EU, initiative to change the membership methodology
2025-10-10 16:05:18 / BOTA
The initiative sent to the European Commission proposes that intermediate technical steps be decided by qualified majority, while a unanimous vote is required for the start and end of negotiations. According to the Austrian Minister for Europe, Claudia Plakolm, who was in Skopje (10.10.2025), the aim of this initiative is to speed up the process and avoid bilateral political issues that block the accession process.
"Austria will advocate for qualified majority voting in the EU accession process , in order to reduce bureaucracy. This means that consensus will not be necessary for every technical step for each candidate country. Consensus will be required for the final accession process, but in the meantime, tensions in bilateral relations will be reduced and decisions can be made to a greater extent in a neutral manner," said Austrian Minister Plakolm.
The State Secretary of the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Neva Grašić, says that EU enlargement remains a priority, primarily due to geopolitical dynamics: "We insist that North Macedonia becomes part of the EU by 2030. We want to see the Western Balkan countries progress as quickly as possible, so we propose qualified majority voting for technical issues related to enlargement," says Neva Grašić.
Murtezani: Change would speed up the membership process
North Macedonia's Minister for European Affairs Orhan Murtezani believes that the new methodology would be welcome for EU candidate countries, as it would significantly speed up the accession process. "At the time this methodology was defined, the circumstances were different, now the geopolitical circumstances have changed and a new methodology must be established, which will enable a rapid conclusion of the process in conditions of great uncertainty," said Murtezani.
The President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, noting the instability of the Western Balkans' long wait at the gates of Brussels, welcomes the initiative to change the methodology for EU membership: "I believe in goodwill, I believe in good intentions, I believe in the commitment of the initiators to the process and their special responsibility towards the region and its accelerated progress towards the EU," emphasizes President Siljanovska-Davkova.
Kacarska: Essentially nothing changes, the veto remains
Simonida Kacarska from the Institute for European Policy says that the initiative to change the decision-making method in the transitional stages of the negotiations could be a relief, but in essence the current procedure with unanimous voting does not change. "The eventual change in the methodology would put pressure on countries that are skeptical and hinder the enlargement policy, where I am thinking first of all of Hungary because of the blockade towards Ukraine. From a technical point of view, it would certainly allow for the acceleration of an important part of the process, but we should not create expectations that this change would fundamentally change the decision-making method in the enlargement process where the veto remains in the end," Kacarska notes.
The initiative to change the decision-making process has so far received the support of 16 EU member states and has been sent to European Council President Antonio Costa./DW
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