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Recent European Commission’s enlargement package outlines new policy approaches for the EU’s accession rules, including mandatory safeguards to ensure that key negotiation commitments are maintained after membership is granted. The package shows that the needed reforms should be translated into concrete progressive actions by four candidate states: Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine. These countries have advanced their accession negotiations, with clusters and chapters being fulfilled at an unprecedented pace.
Background
In a geopolitical environment marked by uncertainty, strategic competition, economic fragmentation and war, the EU-27 remains an anchor of peace, security, prosperity and democratic stability. Enlargement has been one of the Union’s most consequential policies for promoting continental stability, democratic transformation and economic integration.
Presently, its strategic importance has grown further; thus, a credible enlargement policy becomes “an investment in European collective security, competitiveness and resilience”, while strengthening the Union’s capacity to protect its interests, reducing vulnerabilities and creating opportunities for citizens and businesses, notes policy’s brief.
It is vital to mention that each EU’s enlargement has made the Union stronger: e.g. when ten countries joined the EU in 2004, it marked the Union’s largest ever expansion. In the two decades since, the newcomers have seen living standards double, unemployment fall by nearly half, life expectancy rise from 75 to 79 years, poverty and social exclusion drop sharply, and 6 million new jobs created. For the existing EU members, trade has multiplied more than five-fold ever since, while 20 million jobs have also been created. For the EU as a whole, the Single Market gained 74 million new consumers at the time, and the EU economy has expanded by 27% despite global crises.
In the beginning of November 2026, the Commission has put an “indicative date” for the accession treaty’s signature by the selected four states: the so-called “final date” was also mentioned in the roadmap: i.e. when the last member state ratifies the accession treaty. Thus, Montenegro’s roadmap runs from a final negotiating conference in December 2026 to signature in June 2027; Albania, Moldova and Ukraine have roadmaps of their own.
Reaching final signature would be a great states’ achievement in itself, although nothing can be fully guaranteed: i.e. every remaining chapter still needs the agreement of all member states, and so will the final treaty text. With the elections due in 2027 in Montenegro, as well as in many EU member states (including France, Greece, Italy, Poland and Slovakia), the treating signature’s procedure as a strategic milestone would make sense: “waiting for certainty” with a window of opportunity, comments the Commission.
Hence, a signed treaty for each joining state completes years of work and “raises the cost of walking away”, however, it is a far better position than leaving everything to the vagaries of national politics, both in candidate countries and in the member states. “But while a signature can make refusal harder to justify, it cannot make ratification inevitable: the task is to turn this opportunity into membership, and that requires a ratification strategy, not just momentum”, acknowledges European Commission.
Source and citations from: https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/2026-communication-eu-enlargement-policy_en
Vital enlargement components
The digital connectivity is extremely important: the enlargement countries continue to develop digital public services and digital identity frameworks aligned with EU standards. European Digital Innovation Hubs and cooperation on high-performance computing and AI are helping
businesses and public administrations develop the capabilities needed for the digital transition. For example, the European Innovation and Technology Institute is already present in the Western Balkans and Ukraine through Community Hubs, and more hubs will be open in Moldova and Kosovo by the end of 2026.
Then, further investment will be required to close infrastructure gaps, improve cross-border connections and ensure that transport, energy and digital networks are resilient, secure and interoperable with those of the Union.
The digital transition offers vital socio-economic opportunities: the enlargement countries are gradually aligning with the EU digital legal regulations concerning developing digital infrastructure, public services and innovation ecosystems. Cooperation on AI, high-performance computing, digital identity and cybersecurity can accelerate productivity growth and contribute to the European-wide technological capacities. This is particularly important with the greater AI capacity available following the set-up of three AI factory antennas in Moldova, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Moldova in the spot-light
Moldova is working toward an ambitious goal of concluding negotiations by the early 2028, with both requiring deep ongoing structural reforms in the rule of law and democratic institutions. The Republic of Moldova’s consistent implementation of reforms and its strong commitment to align with the EU-wide legal structure (the so-called EU acquis) despite unprecedented external pressures demonstrate its readiness to advance on its EU path. All clusters have been assessed by the Commission since December 2025; and Moldova has continued to pursue sustained reforms to prepare for the next steps in the accession process, particularly fulfilling the interim benchmarks in some clusters. Maintaining the strong momentum of EU-related reforms with greater focus on implementation and enforcement will be essential.
The pace of reforms, particularly in the areas of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, alongside political choices on security and defence, as well as progress towards economic convergence, directly shapes the speed of the accession process for each partner.
Reforms, investments and the gradual integration of enlargement partners are already strengthening the Union’s capacity to protect its interests, reduce vulnerabilities and create new opportunities. To maximise these benefits ahead of accession, the Commission is also presenting some common framework for gradual integration and further deepening integration in strategic sectors, such as energy, transport, digital and defence, which would make the “gradual integration” more structured and coherent.
Moldova has continued to make steady progress on its EU accession path, having opened four clusters over the past year. The Commission’s assessment remains that Moldova has met the conditions required to open all remaining clusters. At the same time, Moldova has intensified the alignment of its legislation with the EU acquis across all chapters and made further progress on key rule of law reforms.
The country has also made very substantial progress towards meeting the interim benchmarks under the fundamentals cluster: hence, it is now important that Moldova continues to maintain the current pace of reforms to allow the country to pursue its ambitious through the “achievable objective of closing accession negotiations by early 2028”, said recent report.
Source and citations from: https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/ukraine/2026-enlargement-package-shows-reform-commitment-delivers-progress-towards-eu-membership_en?s=232
Legal aspects in Moldova’s accession
The Regulation 2025/535 of March 2025, is the main legal instrument defining the process of Moldova’s accession to the EU; this regulation establishes the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova for the period 2025-2027 (the ‘Facility’).
Reference to: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/535/oj/eng
Preconditions for the support under the Facility shall be that Moldova upholds and respects effective democratic mechanisms, including a multi-party parliamentary system, free and fair elections, free, independent and pluralistic media, an independent judiciary and the rule of law, as well as guaranteeing respect for all human rights obligations, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
The Facility shall provide assistance to Moldova for the delivery of Union-related reforms, in particular inclusive and sustainable socio-economic reforms and reforms concerning fundamentals of the enlargement process, aligned with Union values, as well as investments to implement Moldova’s Reform Agenda.
The Facility shall be supported with resources from the NDICI – Global Europe amounting to €520 million in non-repayable support and a maximum amount of €1.500 million in loans.
Note. The Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe is the European Union’s primary financial tool for external cooperation, development, and international partnerships.
More in: https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/funding-technical-assistance/neighbourhood-development-and-international-cooperation-instrument-global-europe-ndici-global-europe_en
Accession’s advantages and legal requirements
It is also necessary to underline some advantages of the Union’s membership before accession, and the economic convergence is at the heart of those benefits. Currently, the convergence of Moldova in terms of GDP per capita (expressed in purchasing power standards) remains low at about 30 percent of the Union average; and is not progressing fast enough. Besides, Moldova’s diaspora should also be considered as an important contributor to Moldova’s social and economic development.
As accession negotiations with Moldova were opened in June 2024, showing an important point in providing further support to Moldova’s accession process; furthermore, it is important that the support shall be brought to those socio-economic “levels” that are comparable with other candidate countries engaged in accession negotiations to be commensurate with the available and ensured resources.
The implementation of the Growth Plan for Moldova requires the appropriate funding under a dedicated new financial facility’s instruments to assist the country in implementing reforms for sustainable economic growth and in advancing the fundamentals of the enlargement process.
This facility is supported with resources from the mentioned NDICI – Global Europe, primarily from the financial allocation for the Neighborhood East, amounting to €520 million in non-repayable support and a maximum amount of €1.500 million in loans for the period from 2025-2027. The non-repayable support should cover the 9 % provisioning required for the loans corresponding to €135 million, support provided by the Union for projects approved under the Neighborhood Investment Platform (art. 18, 2 of the mentioned 2025/535 Regulation), and complementary support, including support to civil society organisations and technical assistance. The non-repayable support should be financed from the envelope allocated to the neighborhood geographic program under art. 6, 2a of Regulation 2021/947; all provisions under this regulation should apply unless otherwise mentioned in this regulation.
Decisions on the release of funds for the support in the form of loans should be adopted in the period from January 2025 to the end of June in 2029 (art. 19, 3). This final date includes the time necessary for the Commission to evaluate the successful fulfilment of the payment conditions concerned and to adopt the subsequent decision on the release of funds.
In order to maximise the leverage of Union financial support to attract additional investment, and to ensure Union control over the expenditure, the investments supporting the Reform Agenda should be implemented through the Neighborhood Investment Platform. At least 25 % of the loan amount released to Moldova should be made available by Moldova to investment projects approved under the Neighborhood Investment Platform. This is in addition to the non-repayable support provided by the Union for these projects.
Source and citations from: Regulation 2025/535 (March 2025), establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova. In: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/535/oj. ISSN 1977-0677 (legal electronic edition).
Conclusion
As is mentioned in the “Roadmap for the accession negotiations with Moldova; An outlook for 2027”, the Commission is going to continue supporting Moldova’s actions in its preparations for accession and will continue to help the states with expertise, including by making full use of various index assessment instruments as well as through the targeted financial assistance, including already available under the Reform and Growth Facility, based on the Reform Agenda.
The Reform and Growth Facility (RGF) is the European Union’s main financial instrument for supporting socio-economic convergence and reforms in the candidate countries. In October 2024, the European Commission proposed a Growth Plan for the Republic of Moldova worth up to €1.9 billion for 2025-2027. The Growth Plan is underpinned by a Reform and Growth Facility – the financial instrument – and the funding is conditional on Moldova’s fulfillment of reforms agreed between the EU and the Government of Moldova in the so-called Reform Agenda for Moldova. Presently, Moldova has unlocked around €504 million under the facility.
The Growth Plan is the largest ever EU financial support package for Moldova. It will support Moldova’s economic convergence with the EU over the next decade and help bring the country closer to EU membership by accelerating reforms and improving Moldova’s access to the EU’s single market. In addition, the Growth Plan will mobilise investments for jobs and growth and, most importantly, “transform the lives of ordinary citizens”, mentioned the Growth Plan for Moldova.
Source and citation from: https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/funding-technical-assistance/reform-and-growth-facility-moldova_en