EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, has rejected the proposal of Aleksandar Vučić and Edi Rama, who called for accelerating the integration of candidate countries into the EU common market and the Schengen area, without obtaining the right of veto, writes the Serbian newspaper Nova.rs.
Specifically, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, has stated that she is not sure whether Aleksandar Vučić and Edi Rama know how much they need to achieve if they want to be part of Schengen.
"I'm not sure if Vučić and Rama know how much they have to achieve if they want to be part of Schengen or the common market, and that the reform process is difficult for both economic integration and EU membership," Kos said in yesterday's interview with Politico.
She added that the European Commission has already presented three options (for enlargement policy) for the countries.
"And without the decisions of the member states we cannot move forward. The EU must change its rules to enable a new wave of membership," Kos said.
Kos has also called on EU member states that do not support the Commission's ideas for enlargement to propose their own plans.
Euractiv recently published, citing unofficial sources, that the European Commission is considering three main options for future enlargement policy: the first would mean that the existing system remains unchanged, the second the so-called "gradual integration", while the third "phased integration", or "reversible".

As explained, “gradual integration” would mean that candidate countries would join a number of EU initiatives and programs, but without receiving formal membership, while “phased integration” would mean that states would quickly receive official membership and then continue to implement reforms.
"From the first exchange with member states it is clear that option number three is not right. This would be a revolution. Option number one, the status quo, is also not an option," Kos stressed.
As Nova.rs recalls, Rama and Vučić, in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , called for accelerating the integration of candidate countries into the EU common market and the Schengen area, without taking the right of veto.
In a joint authorial text, Rama and Vučić emphasized that these countries would not have veto rights within the EU and assessed that this would alleviate the concerns of those member states that are reserved about further EU enlargement.
“ Many Europeans question whether the EU can continue to function effectively with many more members. Concerns about decision-making, institutional balance and political cohesion are legitimate. Leaders in Paris, Berlin and elsewhere are stressing that internal EU reforms may be necessary to ensure that an enlarged EU remains capable of decisive action ,” Rama and Vučić stressed.