EU enlargement

Twenty years ago, the European Union underwent its biggest enlargement with the addition of ten Central and Eastern European countries. According to Vít Havelka, Senior Research Fellow at EUROPEUM Institute, this is enough time for all accession countries to learn how to navigate the EU institutions and its decision-making process.

On 10 and 11 April 2024, Prague will host a two-day conference entitled "20 Years of Reuniting Europe's East and West", organised by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the Think Visegrad platform and the project (Re)uniting the East and West: Reflections on the 2004 EU enlargement (REWEU) supported by the International Visegrad Fund and the European Commission. The programme will also include the second edition of the EU Enlargement Forum.

We would like to invite you to a debate on a topic "20 Years of Reuniting Europe’s East and West: Is the EU Ready for Another “Big Bang” Enlargement?" The debate will take place on Thursday, April 4, from 16:00 to 17:15 h at Prague University of Economics and Business.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the European Commission will recommend initiation of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. In recent months, reform efforts have been evident, the Bosnian government has reached agreements even with the separatist entity of Republika Srpska on key reforms. However, the conditions have not yet been fully met, and many other reforms, such as electoral system reform, are still pending. Researcher from EUROPEUM Institute, Jana Juzová, discussed it for Slovakian RTVS.

Already last year, the EU-27 prime ministers granted Ukraine candidate status and the December summit is expected to approve the opening of accession talks. Our deputy director Viktor Danek reflected on the EU's promises and Ukraine's thorny path to membership in a piece for Právo.

A new policy paper, produced with the support of the Visegrad Fund project, analyses the views of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary on the further enlargement of the European Union. With the granting of candidate status to Moldova and Ukraine and the recognition of Georgia as a potential candidate in June 2022, the issue of reforming the EU accession process is becoming absolutely crucial and, in the context of the war in Ukraine, a divisive issue for the V4 countries. The authors of the publication are Jana Juzová, Ferenc Németh, Tomáš Strážay and Marta Szpala.

In the framework of the conference Think Tank Forum: EU enlargement, an article on the views of member and candidate states on EU enlargement was written in cooperation with EURACTIV.cz.

On the occasion of the Think Tank Forum: EU enlargement conference, an interview with the Macedonian diplomat, politician and foreign policy expert Nikola Dimitrov was conducted. Dimitrov answers questions on issues such as the impact of the Russian invasion on the EU enlargement process and the importance of the Czech Presidency for the Balkan countries.

It is with great pleasure to invite you to participate in the EU Enlargement Think-tank Forum: Rethinking Enlargement in times of Geopolitical Earthquakes organized by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in cooperation with other partners between 13th and 14th October 2022 in Prague. Invitation only for in-person participation.

Our senior researcher Jana Juzová wrote an article for server Info.cz about the Brussels summit of EU leaders. In her commentary, she discusses in more detail what topics were on the agenda and whether the question of future EU enlargement was answered.

Head of our Brussels office Žiga Factor commented on the future of the EU enlargement process for the Bled Strategic Times. In his article, he focuses on the current member states and their attitudes towards the enlargement.

We present you with a report of an online webinar organised by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy on 14 January 2021 with guest speakers Jana Juzová, a Research Fellow at EUROPEUM, and Zoran Nechev, a Research Fellow at Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis Skopje (IDSCS). The discussion was moderated by Žiga Faktor, Head of Brussels Office of EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy.