Analysis
Economic Security
The Security Blind Spot in the EU’s Enlargement Strategy
10 November 2026
Proposals for staged accession may sound attractive on paper. But deeper market integration before candidates shed their dependencies on Russia or China will import vulnerabilities into Europe.
The European Union is deciding not only whether to enlarge but on what terms. In its new Communication on preparing for a wider Union, published on 6 October 2026, the European Commission outlined proposals to strengthen gradual integration and introduce new safeguards for future members. The proposals are part of a broader debate over whether partial integration can bring candidate countries closer to the EU while full accession remains slow and politically contingent.
Some proposals go further in rethinking the boundary between integration and membership. In May 2026, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed ‘associate membership’ for Ukraine, combining participation in EU institutions without voting rights, phased access to EU programmes and an extension of the mutual assistance clause.
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