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Bloomberg
Emmanuel Macron wants to make it tougher for the European Union to accept new members, adding to signs of French unease at the prospect of Balkan countries joining the bloc and raising the risk of further strains with Germany.
In a document circulated to EU governments, France said the process of EU enlargement should be more “gradual,†terms of accession more “stringent†and the process “reversible.†Eventual accession should only be possible “in the long term,†and only after the bloc has been “reformed,†according to the memo seen by Bloomberg.
Two EU diplomats in Brussels said the French proposals amount to an effective halt on EU enlargement, making accession a moving target for western Balkan countries. EU ministers will discuss the matter on Tuesday, just weeks after Paris torpedoed the start of accession negotiations with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia.
In the memo, France proposes that accession talks be organised into seven stages, and that convergence with EU’s rule-of-law standards be part of the first stage.