The European Commission’s proposal for a revised approach to enlargement takes on board key proposals from SELDI’s regional anticorruption reports and policy briefs, including:
- a stronger focus on political engagement and economic fundamentals;
- mainstreaming of anti-corruption efforts in more policies and not just in anti-corruption institutions and the judiciary;
- a continuous evident clear engagement to reforms from local elites;
- tackling third countries’ malign influence;
- protecting the important EC – civil society relations, including their financial underpinning from unexpected distress.
The vitality an EU commitment to the new approach will be tested soon at the EU – Western Balkans Summit in Zagreb in May 2020. Their impact would ultimately depend on the leadership, the will, and the skills of the EU to make democracy deliver for the region.
