The European Union should consider temporarily restricting some voting rights of future new members of the bloc and creating stronger guarantees for the rule of law, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg wrote in a joint document seen by Reuters on Monday.
With Montenegro, which hopes to join the EU in 2028, and Albania, Ukraine and Moldova seeking to advance their membership talks, EU members are debating whether rules for new members should be changed. Some capitals have been pushing for the EU to create stronger safeguards for future members, partly because of the bloc's experience with a backsliding on democratic standards in Hungary under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The document outlines possible options that could be included in future accession treaties, including a new monitoring mechanism and a "safeguard clause" that would allow for measures to be taken in the event of serious backsliding in areas such as democracy and media freedom.
"The EU should hold a thorough debate on the possibility of temporary, transitional restrictions on the voting rights of new member states, especially in parts of EU law that require unanimity," the five countries wrote, citing enlargement, foreign policy and the EU budget as areas where the agreement of all member states is currently needed.