The heads of state and government of the European Union and those of the Western Balkans will meet on Friday, June 5, in Tivat, Montenegro, for a summit intended to demonstrate that enlargement is still possible. The proof? The host country itself. Montenegro is first in the long line of candidates to join the EU and could cross the threshold as early as 2028. Governments have already set up a working group to draft the accession treaty. The government in Podgorica has accepted the principle that safeguard clauses be included to prevent a new member from turning into a new Hungary under Viktor Orb\u00e1n. The model is expected to serve as a template for other candidates as well: new members should not have veto rights for a certain period of time, and their integration could be suspended in the event of rule-of-law violations. Montenegro’s success is meant to restore hope to other candidate countries. Albania is second in line. But both countries are small enough not to pose problems for current member states. Enthusiasm for other candidates in the Western Balkans and beyond is waning. Serbia is taking significant steps backward on reforms. Bosnia-Herzegovina cannot even appoint a representative for negotiations with the EU. North Macedonia is grappling with historical and cultural disputes with Bulgaria. Kosovo is not recognized by all EU member states. The letter in which Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed an “associate membership” status for Ukraine has been interpreted by many as an attempt to push back the prospect of Kyiv’s accession. Moldova has begun discussing a shortcut to EU membership: reunification with Romania. At the Tivat summit, much will be said about gradual integration into EU policies and programmes \u2014 which is another way of not accelerating on accession.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Opening the first series of negotiating chapters for Ukraine and Moldova<\/strong><\/p>\n Even as doubts about enlargement are multiplying in some capitals, symbolic gestures remain important. On June 16, an intergovernmental conference is expected to be convened in Luxembourg to open the first series of negotiating chapters with Ukraine and Moldova. In Brussels these are called “clusters.” The first covers the fundamentals \u2014 that is, the chapters dedicated to democracy, the rule of law, and the fight against corruption. The Commission has already stated that Ukraine and Moldova meet the conditions for opening all clusters (six in total, covering 35 negotiating chapters). But some member states remain cautious and want to proceed slowly. The ousting of Viktor Orb\u00e1n from power in Hungary allows the process to formally restart, but his successor, P\u00e9ter Magyar, is asking Ukraine for guarantees on the Hungarian minority. The EU nonetheless hopes that the opening of the first cluster can be seen as a success by Volodymyr Zelensky and help Ukrainians in their resistance against Russia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The twenty-first sanctions package against Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n EU foreign ministers will meet on June 15 in Luxembourg and may on that occasion adopt the twenty-first package of sanctions against Russia. The proposal has not yet been formally presented by the Commission. But the EU is hoping for record-speed approval, now that Viktor Orb\u00e1n can no longer threaten his vetoes. The main objective of the package will be to increase economic pressure on Russia at a time when Vladimir Putin appears to be facing growing difficulties on the domestic front. The mechanism for adjusting the price cap on Russian crude oil is expected to be suspended or modified to prevent Moscow from pocketing additional billions of dollars. Sanctions will also target banks and cryptocurrency operators that help Russia circumvent the restrictive measures introduced in the previous twenty packages.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first budget showdown at the European Council<\/strong><\/p>\n If all goes according to plan, heads of state and government will not be forced to spend hours debating Ukraine at the European Council on June 18 and 19. The restart of Kyiv’s accession process and the sanctions against Russia may already have been resolved. The most significant issue at the mid-year summit will be the Commission’s proposal for a new Multiannual Financial Framework \u2014 that is, the EU’s 2028\u201335 budget. The Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU will have presented the first compromise text \u2014 known in Brussels as a “negotiating box” \u2014 with bracketed figures for the various budget chapters. More money for traditional policies (the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policy) or more money for new priorities (competitiveness and defence above all)? Two blocs of countries are squaring off. On one side, the so-called “Friends of Cohesion” want a larger budget, financed through common debt if necessary, to preserve traditional policies. On the other, countries considered “frugal” are calling for cuts to the current spending ceiling \u2014 set at 1.26 percent of GNI \u2014 reject any form of common debt, and insist on cutting the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policy. European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa hopes to reach an agreement by the end of the year. Given the unanimity rule, it will be no small feat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leaders in search of a strategy on China<\/strong><\/p>\n Another sensitive issue at the European Council will be the strategy to adopt towards China and the growing economic threat it poses to the EU’s industrial base. Following an internal Commission debate on Friday, May 29, Ursula von der Leyen promised “a more robust response” to China in trade and investment relations, because the current state of affairs “is not sustainable.” But before putting forward formal proposals, the Commission President wants clear signals from leaders. Spain is opposed to a toughening of EU policy towards Beijing. Germany \u2014 the decisive country \u2014 remains uncertain. European leaders will have the opportunity to discuss this with Donald Trump at the G7 summit to be held from June 15 to 17, 2026 in \u00c9vian, France.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The European Parliament set to approve the tariff deal with Trump<\/strong><\/p>\n During those same days, at the plenary session of June 15\u201318 in Strasbourg, the European Parliament is expected to offer Donald Trump what the American president has long been asking for: the approval of the Turnberry agreement concluded by Ursula von der Leyen in July 2025, which capped tariffs on the EU at 15 percent. Parliament must vote definitively on the elimination of European tariffs on American products.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The new Pact on Migration and Asylum<\/strong><\/p>\n EU interior ministers will gather in Cyprus on June 12 for a conference dedicated to the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. On that day, the EU’s new rules for managing migration flows will enter into force, and the Cypriot Presidency of the Council has decided to organise a major event to mark what many consider a historic turning point towards a “Fortress Europe.” However, some experts doubt that all member states are ready to implement the new rules, in particular the border procedure system aimed at swiftly rejecting asylum applications. Greece and Italy could face serious difficulties in containing secondary movements towards other member states. Some Central and Eastern European countries, such as Poland and Hungary, have already declared that they do not intend to apply the new Pact on Migration and Asylum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The heads of state and government of the European Union and those of the Western Balkans will meet on Friday, June 5, in Tivat, Montenegro, for a summit intended to demonstrate that enlargement is still possible. The proof? The host country itself. Montenegro is first in the long line of candidates to join the EU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":10,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7433"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7548,"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7433\/revisions\/7548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foglioeuropeo.ilfoglio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}