Page 143 - SEVEN STEPS for COMPREHENDING the EUROPEAN UNION

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to the South-East – the political context for such stance of the Union
will become even clearer in the next chapter which discusses the EU’s
policy towards its South-Eastern neighborhood after the “Big Bang”
enlargement of 2004.
Against the background of the non-existence of any political and
legal preconditions for the current EU enlargement we may conclude
the following: The political and legislative background of the EU
current enlargement defined the overall character of this “unexpected”
development. In the past, the Union would not rush with any new
accession and would follow its respective practices and regulations. This
time, in response to the Russian war in Ukraine, the EU was compelled
to rethink its regional policy towards its South-East neighborhood and
take unconventional decisions.

As a result, Ukraine, as well as Moldova and Georgia applied for EU
membership in February and March 2022 respectively. On June 23, 2022,
following EU Commission recommendations, Ukraine and Moldova
became EU candidate countries, while an EU membership perspective
was offered to Georgia. Furthermore, in June 2024 EU launched accession
talks with Ukraine and Moldova. At the same time, Georgia was granted
the EU candidacy.

Let us also highlight that Article 49 leaves the EU door open for
European states. Article 50 of the Treaty, however, introduces a new
right for EU members to leave the Union if national interests so require.
More precisely, the article reads: “Any member state may decide to
withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional
104
requirements.” The amendment has been approved by the Lisbon
Treaty and was activated for the UK’s exit from the European Union.

104 Treaty on EU; article 50
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012M%2FTXT