BRUSSELS, June 4 (Reuters) - Germany and France have proposed giving aspiring European Union members more opportunities to join EU programmes and access the single market before joining the bloc, according to a discussion paper seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The paper says it is intended to inject new momentum into discussions on enlarging the 27-member bloc ahead of a summit between EU and Western Balkan leaders on Friday and another summit with Moldova later this month.
Enlargement has risen up the EU agenda due to Russia's war against Ukraine, with Kyiv keen to join the bloc to anchor itself in Europe's political mainstream.
But the process for joining the bloc is usually long and bureaucratic, involving years of negotiations and legal reforms, which has prompted EU officials to look for ways to offer more tangible benefits to candidate countries before that journey is complete.
"We must provide additional incentives as part of a merit-based, gradual integration process and streamline the current process to make it more efficient and to allow for faster and deeper integration," the Franco-German paper says.
The paper proposes possible participation in EU student exchange and research programmes, as well as potential integration in areas such as energy, industry and the bloc’s Emissions Trading System – if the candidate country meets specific standards.
It also raises the possibility of allowing representatives of Western Balkan countries and Moldova to participate in parts of EU ministerial meetings and summits, although without the right to vote in them.
The paper follows a proposal last month by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to grant Ukraine the new status of "associate member" as an interim step to EU membership. He said this could facilitate a deal to end the war triggered by Russia's invasion.
But that proposal raised questions about countries in the Western Balkans that have been working for years to join the EU and which, under his blueprint, would not receive the same opportunities as Ukraine.
EU officials say Montenegro is the most advanced candidate. Albania has also made progress in its bid.
Moldova and Ukraine are expected to soon begin negotiations over the first thematic cluster of EU standards. Other candidate countries include North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray and Lili BayerEditing by Gareth Jones)
