Thinking enlarged: civil society’s role in preparing for EU enlargement

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the prospect of European Union (EU) enlargement has moved from the margins of policy to the centre of the Union’s strategic agenda. Leaders across the continent now describe it as a geopolitical imperative.

Yet, while rhetorical commitment has intensified, tangible progress remains slow. Candidate countries are increasingly caught between ambitious political declarations and incremental delivery, with public trust in the enlargement process declining in the region and its legitimacy at risk.

This Policy Brief argues that, to restore trust in the enlargement process the EU must engage civil society more in it. The EU needs to “think enlarged”, embedding an enlargement dimension into current EU policy debates and involving civil society from candidate countries and potential candidates earlier and more systematically.

Read the full Policy Brief here.

Johannes Greubel is Senior Policy Analyst, Head of Programme and ‘Connecting Europe’ Project Lead at the EPC.

Liza Saris is Policy Analyst and Project Manager at the EPC.

Vanna Curin is Programme Assistant at the EPC.

Constanze Sendler is a former Programme Assistant at the EPC.

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