France’s questionable arguments against European Union enlargement

Andreas Eisl (1)

1 CEE - Centre d'études européennes et de politique comparée (Sciences Po, CNRS)

First lines: Why the French government should rethink its veto on the EU accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania, while pushing for reform of the accession procedure. In October 2019, France vetoed the opening of EU accession talks with the Balkan countries North Macedonia and Albania[1]. In a number of different press releases and public statements, the French government brought forward two principal arguments justifying its opposition[2]. These points were (1) the perceived need to reform the accession procedures before any new countries can join the EU[3], and a supposed (2) trade-off between the widening and deepening of the EU more generally[4].

Domaines: Science politique

Andreas Eisl. France’s questionable arguments against European Union enlargement. 2019. ⟨hal-02978450⟩