France and Germany have laid out a set of proposals for reforming the European Union. A panel of experts commissioned by both countries has outlined the structural changes they say are needed to add eight new members to the bloc and change how it makes collective decisions.
Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania could all be set to join the EU in the next decade. But the bloc's most influential member states think reform is needed before new members can be welcomed.
One of the main proposed changes would be to have EU membership divided into four clearly defined tiers.
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The first is made up of the inner circle, those countries that use the Euro and are part of the Schengen free movement area, while the second includes those members that are part of the EU but don't have full integration and might not use the Euro.
The third is associate membership – countries that want to trade with the EU, have access to its single market, but not take part in political decisions or have full membership. These include countries like Switzerland and potentially the UK.
Finally, the broadest tier is the European Political Community, which includes all other European countries and meets twice a year. One of the report's co-authors said Brussels has to start with small changes.
France and Germany have a proposed a new multi-tiered version of the European Union to make it easier to accept new members and for the bloc to operate more smoothly. /Yves Herman/Reuters
"We proposed really modest reforms to allow a better functioning of the various institutions," said Olivier Costa, Director of the European Political and Governance Studies Department at the College of Europe in Bruges. "For instance, reducing the numbers of members in the European Parliament, because it's becoming ridiculous.
"If we use the same rules we have, we'll end up with 1,000 members which is totally pointless. We need to reform decision making within the council. Today some decisions are still taken at unanimity, which is making decisions super difficult."
French President Emmanuel Macron (center) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) believe different levels of EU membership with varying levels of influence will reform and speed up decision making. /Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The panel also adopted the timeline set by EU Council President Charles Michel who said the EU should be ready to welcome new members by 2030. Experts say this move will help to motivate aspiring members.
Iulian Groza, Executive Director of the Institute for European Policies and Reform and a former Deputy Foreign Minister of Moldova, said: "The timeline helps to substantiate the political ambition we have here in Moldova to advance in the accession process. Talking dates is important because setting milestones helps to push the process."
But these proposals are just the opening argument in a debate that will likely rumble on across Brussels for months if not years to come. Even if member states agree how to reform EU institutions, adapting existing policies to new members will be another long and difficult process.
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