In Davos, Roberta Metsola renews appeal for EU enlargement

European Parliament president Roberta Metsola made her strongest pitch yet for the enlargement of the EU bloc, as war on the continent raises questions on Europe’s willingness to expand its democratic influence.

Metsola addressed a panel of world leaders in Davos at the World Economic Forum, where she shared the stage with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, Irish Taoiseach Michael Martin, and Slovak PM Eduard Heger.

War in Ukraine was the backdrop to questions over European unity and its soft power in attracting more Balkan states its its fold, and way from Russia.

'Are we ready to open our doors to countries that are fighting for the principles that we share?' -@EP_President. Watch the full session here: https://t.co/F5boGoC9pY #wef22 pic.twitter.com/0J3spCRBmr

— World Economic Forum (@wef) May 25, 2022

Metsola paid tribute to the EU’s successful enlargements, herself hailing from a microstate that joined the EU table in 2004, saying the EU project had been “a successful coming-together of countries that share fundamental beliefs and fight autocracy, a transformative power.”

Metsola said that the EU’s priority in opting for expansion should not be a question of extending its power or market, but rather of strengthening its role as a global player within the European continent.

“Are we ready to open our doors for countries fighting for the principles we share? If we are ready to say yes, then it is not only about economies or how much power goes into the institution, but about whether the EU wants to be the global democratic power in an immediate neighbourhood where we have a common adversary.”

And while saying Europe was faced with crucial decisions about its future, she also chastised years of indecision about member states’ continued dependence on Russian oil.

“For way too long we seriously did not consider creating an energy union where we could rely on each other, rather than just a single country that could switch us off anytime it wanted... Our failure to act also caused instability in those countries... it is a concern the European Parliament shares.”

She said that with the Conference on the Future of Europe signalling a future direction for institutional change, EU leaders should seize the moment of change and open the door further to candidate states with the right credentials.

“Now, after the Conference on the Future of Europe, leaders are asking whether they could do more for candidate countries who are on the right path, who are told there are rules they must follow, that they must continue following those rules once they are in... I am convinced this is the moment, and if we don’t, I think we would have failed.”

She was cautious about ‘kicking out’ bad boys in the EU club that do not respect the EU’s rules, but insisted that rule of law was one of the bloc’s top priorities, which is why it had made good behaviour conditional for EU cash disbursements. 

“When we talk about rule of law, we must take it seriously. We did not take it seriously... if you asked citizens at elections what rule of law meant, they would give you different answers of what they thought it meant.

“We’ve been extremely strong on the fact that conditionality means you cannot disburse funds to countries that don’t play by the rules, that target minorities, that think they’re above the law, or who think politicians should be protected even if they break it...”