My plenary speech on the institutional consequences of teh EU enlargement negotiations.
Every single enlargement of our Union has been a major success, and it has now become a geopolitical necessity to protect ourselves and our neighbours against interference from autocratic regimes.
It is important and good that enlargement is high on the agenda again: war on our continent, the rise of right-wing extremism and the shift in transatlantic relations
remind us even further that enlargement is in the Union’s own strategic interest.
There will be no short-cuts on EU values and fundamental principles: accession to the EU must always be a merit-based procedure and therefore, as EU institutions and Member States we must support the candidate countries.
We also have Homework, institutional and financial reforms are needed to absorb new Members.
Our Union is barely functioning at the current state.
We need to change our way of working so that every citizen, business and society as a whole can continue to benefit from the European Project.
Let’s have the courage to adopt targeted treaty changes, move away from unanimity and live up to our promises to citizens and candidate countries
