Ukraine accession is big call for EU

SINCE the Ukraine conflict began, the ‘hand of history’ has been hanging over key EU economic and political decisions.

Thursday and Friday will be no different with the European Council of presidents and prime ministers having big calls to make not just on the bloc’s approach to the war this summer. For there are also key decisions to take on the future of Europe, including the EU’s potential future enlargement, post-Russia’s invasion.

Since the European integration process began in the 1950s, the bloc has steadily expanded, Brexit aside. This included the accession in 2004 of 10 new member countries from formerly communist Central and Eastern Europe. The revival this year of the EU enlargement process, which had been largely sidelined for years, shows how much is changing in Europe, after the fatigue on this agenda in the last decade and a half. Following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and the Eurozone crisis of 2009-10, this led to Brussels setting stricter reform conditionality for accession states. Yet, despite the process stalling for years, the European Council is expected this week to give a positive formal opinion on Ukraine’s membership bid, and may give a judgement on Moldova and/ or Georgia too.