EU prepares ‘new safeguards’ to limit Ukraine’s powers in the first years of membership

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has stated that special oversight mechanisms will be developed for new European Union members to ensure compliance with European rules five, ten, or fifteen years after accession.

This was reported by Evropeiska Pravda.

Kos responded to a question about whether the EU is considering restricting veto rights for new members in the initial phase of membership. According to her, the matter concerns a “new generation of accession treaties” that will contain “new safeguards.”

The commissioner added the caveat that first it is necessary to “reach a situation where we will also be concluding an accession treaty for Ukraine.” A similar treaty is currently being developed for Montenegro, and that experience will serve as the basis for future agreements.

“We are now in the process of preparing it for Montenegro, so it will take some more time before we see how to do this. But what we know now — and that is why I mention the accession treaty with Montenegro — is that this will be a new generation of accession treaties in the sense that we will have new safeguards that will do or ensure exactly what you mentioned,” Kos said.

EU member states reached an agreement to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. On the day Kos’s statement was published, the first intergovernmental conferences were held, during which the first negotiating cluster, “Fundamentals,” was opened.