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Macek, L., Maillard, S. & Mirel, P. “Towards an Agenda 2030 for Enlargement”, Brief, Jacques Delors Institute, December 2024

Stalled until 24 February 2022, the enlargement policy has since featured among the top priorities of the European Union. In the light of Russia’s aggression, the bloc has witnessed the cost of non-enlargement and the eminently geopolitical value of a credible accession path. However, the prospect of a “Europe of 30+” also raises concerns among the 27 Member States because of the institutional, socio-economic, budgetary and internal cohesion challenges it raises altogether. The new institutional cycle (2024-2029) should enable this policy to consolidate its renewed momentum, echoing that of 2004. To achieve this, it must be driven and closely coordinated by the Commission, with greater involvement of the Member States and candidate countries at all levels, and embrace gradual integration based on a strategic document to be adopted: an Agenda 2030, in reference to Agenda 2000, which in 1997 paved the way for the 2004 enlargement.