The European Commission is preparing to unveil a sweeping reform of decision-making mechanisms within the European Union. The main goal of the initiative is to bypass national vetoes held by individual member states and introduce robust rule of law guarantees. These changes are designed to prepare the bloc for a massive expansion that could see membership exceed 30 countries, including Ukraine, Montenegro, and Albania. The package of documents is expected to be officially presented soon without requiring amendments to the foundational EU Treaty of Lisbon.
Background and Core of the Proposed Changes
According to internal draft documents, the European Commission intends to utilize legal transitional provisions. This will eliminate the requirement for absolute unanimity among the 27 member states during numerous intermediate stages of a candidate country's integration. Currently, the accession process of new nations is frequently stalled due to opposition from a small number of skeptics. The new system will propose a qualified majority threshold of 15 states representing two-thirds of the bloc's population. Meanwhile, a special “emergency brake” mechanism will be available for governments to activate if vital national interests are threatened.
Controversial Data
Serious discussions have unfolded in expert communities and diplomatic circles surrounding the upcoming reform. On one hand, proponents argue that abandoning unanimity is the only way to save the EU from paralysis during further enlargement. On the other hand, current member states express sharp dissatisfaction over the prospect of losing their historical veto power. Additional tension is caused by a proposal to reduce the number of European Commissioners so that only two-thirds of EU countries will have a commissioner in Brussels. This means that under the current composition, as many as nine states would have to give up their national representatives, which has already alarmed smaller member states.
Conditions for Candidates and Consequences for Ukraine
In addition to altering the voting system, the draft documents contain strict requirements for candidate countries. Newcomers could be kept on a probationary period of ten years or more under enhanced scrutiny from Brussels. They will be required to sign a legally binding “interim commitment” not to block decisions agreed upon by the rest of the EU, and to join the European Public Prosecution Office before accession. Financial leverage and sanctions will be applied if they backtrack on democratic and judicial standards. These innovations are intended to balance an accelerated integration process with guarantees of the union's internal stability.
