In an interview with Lusa on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the EU's biggest enlargement in history -- when 10 countries joined the community bloc simultaneously, which went from 15 to 25 Member States -- and on the eve of the European elections that will mark a new institutional and political cycle, Várhelyi says he hopes "that the next Commission will be an enlargement Commission", for which it needs a clear mandate from the Member States (Council), to continue and complete the work that the current executive has done to revitalise the process, put on hold by the previous executive.

When he took over the presidency of the European Commission in 2014, Jean-Claude Juncker announced that there would be no more accessions during his mandate, until 2019, arguing that the EU needed to "pause its enlargement process, to consolidate" the European project, then with 28 Member States.

During the mandate of the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen, which took office on 1 December 2019, the EU granted candidate country status to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova and formally opened accession negotiations with Albania, North Macedonia, Ukraine and Moldova, with the European Council also giving the 'green light' last December to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once certain conditions have been met.

Commenting on the EU's new willingness to revive the process with a view to welcoming new Member States, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement admits that the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in February 2022 "of course had a major impact on enlargement policy", as evidenced by the fact that "just a few days after the start of the Russian aggression, three of the Eastern partners -- Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia -- immediately applied for membership".

"And the reason [for the applications for membership], as can be seen in the applications submitted, was that these countries see EU membership as the only long-term guarantee for their own peace, stability and security. This is what it means to them, and this is how we should also understand it: that the value of being a member of the EU is perhaps more important than what we have considered", he says.

"Regarding the Juncker Commission, I certainly think that they greatly underestimated the value of EU enlargement, not only for those who want to join, but also for those who are already in. And I think that this is another great lesson that we have to learn from the Juncker Commission, and that is why we started working very quickly from the first day of the mandate, in order to restore the credibility, or the sense, of enlargement, also for the EU members", he says.

According to the Commissioner, "the Russian aggression has helped to reinforce this message", in the sense that "if Europe wants to ensure its own peace, security and prosperity in the long term, it has to enlarge", because "otherwise it runs the risk of being prone to attacks or risks created outside Europe, as we have seen in the case of Ukraine or, even earlier, in Georgia, in 2008".

"I think that today it is very, very clear that the EU needs to enlarge, if it wants to continue to be the aspiration of the region, it needs to be enlarged with those who are ready to fulfil all the criteria", he continues, welcoming the fact that the EU leaders themselves are "considering this issue as one of the three top priorities" on which "decisions need to be taken".

Regarding a possible institutional reform or of the EU Treaties themselves, advocated by some sectors as necessary before proceeding with enlargement, the Commissioner disagrees, considering that, with the current framework of the Treaties, the bloc has "available all the tools it needs to make enlargement happen".

"Of course we see now a discussion, which is already ongoing, about how to improve the efficiency of how the EU institutions work. There are possibilities within the current Treaty framework to improve. But I think these processes are parallel procedures, they are processes that should go separately, in the sense that these are two separate discussions" and should not be intertwined, he argues.

Regarding enlargement, the debate, he stresses, "is about the long-term peace, stability and security of the continent, of the EU and its Member States", while "the institutional debate is about how to improve the functioning" of the Union.

"If we merge the two debates, what will happen in the end is that it will be more of an exercise of navel-gazing than anything else, which has never contributed to the development of the EU", he says.

In Várhelyi's opinion, "what needs to be clearly decided now is that the next Commission should be an enlargement Commission, and if this is decided by the leaders - because it is up to them to define the strategic agenda for the next institutional cycle - it means that then, at the end of the next Commission's mandate [2029], when new members are supposed to join, the debate on what is needed to accommodate the new members should also be concluded".

Insisting that it is possible to advance the enlargement process and open the door to the entry of new Member States by the end of the new legislature (2024-2029), with the "basic instruments" that the EU currently has, namely those developed by the current Commission - such as the economic and investment plans for candidate countries and the growth plan for the Western Balkans --, the Commissioner insists that what is lacking is "a very clear strategic agenda defined by the European Council for the next institutional cycle".

"We have everything in place for the Western Balkan countries or any of the Eastern Partnership countries to prepare themselves, because the process is also about them being ready, i.e. fulfilling all the criteria. What is still missing is a very clear political commitment, or, if you like, an offer from the European Council, stating that they are ready to accommodate them at the end of the next institutional cycle. And I think that when that happens, it will become clear what the agenda and the task of the next Commission should be. So, I think the essential elements are there, but yes, the decisions have to be taken in that direction", he concludes.

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