EU is drawing up membership action plans for most promising candidates

The EU is developing proposals that would see the four countries closest to joining the bloc given a clear, step-by-step path toward membership — while the others languish behind.

Targeted “roadmaps” are being considered for Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova and Albania, two senior European Commission officials working on the draft proposals told POLITICO, as part of efforts to speed up the decades-long process. They were granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive plans.

The four countries are seen as frontrunners to join the EU, but still face slow progress and unclear timelines as to when they might formally be admitted. While Brussels has long backed their membership bids, the roadmaps mark the first time they will be given assurances that if they continue with essential reforms, they will be admitted — and offered indicative timelines for the completion of negotiations.

The roadmaps will make clearer exactly what’s expected of each candidate country, one of the officials said, as well as create obligations for current members, which need to give their blessing for the process to go ahead. The plans also set rough dates for when groups of reforms, known as negotiating “clusters,” will be formally completed — major milestones on the path to membership.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged targeted support for the candidate countries “that have made most progress” during her State of the Union speech earlier in September.

However, other candidate countries at an earlier stage in the process, like Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina would not be offered the roadmaps at this stage, the officials confirmed. Nor would Georgia, Turkey or Serbia, which have seen their applications grind to a halt over concerns about democratic and judicial backsliding.

A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed that the new roadmaps “will provide a pathway toward the conclusion of the accession negotiations. They will set out a clear priority list: timelines and deliverables to help the most advanced candidates complete the necessary reforms.”