EU launches its biggest enlargement push in decades as Ukraine and Moldova open accession talks

The European Union has embarked on its most significant enlargement push in more than two decades, formally opening the second stage of accession negotiations with both Ukraine and Moldova — a process that will require the two countries to align their foreign, security, trade and defense policies with EU standards as a condition of eventual membership.

The move comes as Ireland took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1, a position it will hold through the end of 2026 and that gives Dublin significant influence over the bloc's legislative agenda and diplomatic priorities during a pivotal stretch of the enlargement process. Ireland's presidency has signaled it will prioritize keeping the accession talks moving, though EU officials have been careful not to attach a specific membership timeline, wary of repeating past enlargement rounds where overly optimistic deadlines were later missed.

Ukraine's and Moldova's applications carry particular political weight given the context in which they were submitted. Both countries applied for EU candidacy in the immediate aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a move widely understood at the time as much as a statement of solidarity as a realistic near-term membership pathway. The formal opening of the second negotiating stage now represents the clearest sign yet that the EU intends to follow through on that commitment, even as the war in Ukraine continues and diplomatic efforts to end it remain unresolved.

The accession process itself is notoriously demanding, requiring candidate countries to bring their entire legal, economic and institutional framework into alignment with EU law across dozens of policy chapters — a process that has taken other recent candidates the better part of a decade or longer to complete. For Ukraine, that process is complicated by the ongoing war, reconstruction needs, and questions about how territorial disputes might affect its eventual membership terms. For Moldova, a smaller and less economically developed country than Ukraine, the challenge lies more in building out the institutional capacity needed to implement EU-level governance and regulatory standards.

The enlargement push arrives alongside a broader set of EU policy moves this month aimed at strengthening the bloc's economic and regulatory position. Beginning July 1, the EU introduced a temporary €3 customs duty on low-value parcels imported from outside the bloc, primarily targeting the flood of inexpensive goods arriving through e-commerce platforms based outside Europe. And from July 7, all newly registered cars and vans in the EU became subject to more stringent safety requirements, part of a continuing effort to harmonize vehicle standards across the single market.

Taken together, EU officials describe the current period as one of the bloc's most active on both its external and internal policy fronts simultaneously — pursuing the biggest membership expansion drive since the early 2000s while also tightening trade and regulatory rules closer to home. Diplomats involved in the accession talks caution that political will alone will not be enough to guarantee a smooth process, noting that previous enlargement rounds have frequently stalled over unresolved disputes between candidate countries and existing member states on issues ranging from minority rights to border questions — friction points that could resurface as Ukraine's and Moldova's negotiations move into more technical and contentious chapters in the months ahead.