European Union Prepares Target Dates to Accelerate Membership Talks

Brussels is setting concrete timelines to speed up EU accession talks for leading candidate nations.

Brussels is developing structured membership action plans that for the first time include specific target dates for leading accession candidates. This new approach aims to reinvigorate the bloc's enlargement process, which has seen no new members join since Croatia's accession. Countries such as Moldova and Ukraine are currently among the top performers moving through the integration steps.

• The European Union has not admitted a new member since Croatia joined the bloc.
• Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania are identified as the most promising candidates for the new action plans.
• EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos praised Moldova's reform performance during the latest evaluation.

By the numbers

Timeline

1. Sep 25EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos highlighted Moldova's strong performance in meeting accession criteria.
2. Sep 27Brussels began drafting structured membership action plans with target dates for leading candidate countries.

In this story

Covered by 2 outlets

• Politico EuropeAfter summaryEU to offer single-market access to candidate countries2d ago · open ↗
• France 24'Moldova is the best performer in my class': EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos1w ago · open ↗

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