European Commission preparing restrictions for new members

The European Commission is expected to present proposals on restrictions and safeguard mechanisms for new members of the European Union by the end of September, Irish Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne has said.

Speaking ahead of the informal meeting of EU affairs ministers on September 4, Byrne clarified that ministers will discuss the necessary safeguards during the accession process, which could subsequently become part of an accession treaty, Caliber.Az reports, citing Ukrainian media.

He added that “the discussion of safeguard mechanisms is actually a key part of the accession process for Montenegro.”

As previously reported by European Pravda, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos earlier presented four areas of proposed changes to the EU enlargement process: internal reforms of the bloc, stronger democratic guarantees, gradual integration and transitional measures.

The European Commission is working on proposals to reform the EU enlargement process in response to ideas put forward by member states and to avoid placing the burden of new guarantees solely on Montenegro, the candidate country that has made the most progress toward European integration.

Earlier, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed creating an “associated membership” status for Ukraine.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov