Enlargement & the Common European Future

Lead: CEP (Serbia) Co-Lead: EPI (North Macedonia)

This group tackles the political architecture of EU enlargement – not only whether the accession path has credibility and momentum, but how integration should work. Its central argument is that gradual staged integration is the way forward, yet only if it becomes a strategic political instrument rather than a procedural exercise that leads into indefinite “intermediate status”. It discusses the mechanics of the argument, as well as possibilities for a joint regional voice of the WB6 on this question. Around this it addresses the specific accession dynamics of stalled cases, and the role of regional cooperation frameworks in advancing a common European future.