Rutte ‘very much disagrees’ with 2030 EU enlargement date

The prospect of EU enlargement by 2030 is “if” the countries are ready, insisted outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD/Renew), reacting to European Council President Charles Michel’s suggestion in September that candidate countries and the EU should be ready for enlargement by 2030.

The outgoing Dutch prime minister met other European leaders at the third summit of the European Political Community (EPC) in Granada, where EU enlargement dominated the agenda.

“I very much disagree with that date,” Rutte said regarding the 2030 enlargement goal put forth by Michel.

“It is not a question of when countries will be ready. It is a question of if countries will be ready,” he explained.

Rutte underlined the importance of the EU’s painstaking enlargement process, which requires EU hopefuls to align themselves with the bloc’s acquis to move forward. There should be absolutely no exceptions when it comes to meeting the EU’s conditions for accession, he added.

The Dutch prime minister also questioned whether the EU is ready to accept new members altogether.

“The EU already has 27 member states, and if more countries are added, then decision-making and all sorts of other things will become even more complicated,” he said.

Calls to make EU enlargement conditional on a fundamental reform of how the bloc works were heard throughout the year, with EU countries making slow progress on the issue.

In particular, issues such as voting procedures, the EU’s budget, the sanctioning of rule-of-law violations and the idea of a ‘gradual integration’ have driven a wedge between EU member states.

Future Dutch stance shrouded in uncertainty

Despite Rutte’s harsh remarks, his imminent exit from politics means that the Netherlands’ future stance on EU enlargement will depend on who succeeds him after next month’s national elections.

Current polling projects a close race between Rutte’s centre-right VVD party, the alliance of Social Democrats and Greens (PvdA/GL) led by former EU climate chief Frans Timmermans and the newcomer anti-establishment party NSC, led by MP Pieter Omtzigt, a former Christian Democrat.

While both VVD and PvdA/GL emphasise the necessity of adhering to the EU’s accession criteria in their election programmes, the latter seems to be more open towards enlargement, stating that it will “encourage, reward and actively support genuine reforms”, while VVD merely says that “candidate countries […] maintain a view of EU membership and will be judged on the results achieved”. Omtizgt’s NSC has yet to present its election programme.

(Benedikt Stöckl | Euractiv.com