Politico: Several EU countries block idea of qualified majority to accelerate Ukraineʼs accession

EU is discussing the possibility of adopting qualified majority voting on new members to speed up the accession process for Ukraine and Moldova. However, several countries, including France, the Netherlands and Greece, are opposed, fearing they would lose their veto power over candidates they consider problematic.

This is reported by Politico.

France, the Netherlands, Greece and probably Denmark fear that the rule change will limit their ability to block applications they consider problematic.

For these countries, the right of veto is a key instrument of national sovereignty: Greece wants to be able to delay Turkeyʼs accession, Bulgaria wants to control the process of North Macedonia, and Croatia wants to control Serbiaʼs.

“We are not convinced of the advisability of changing the rules of the game during the game... Using a qualified majority to advance accession poses a great risk of politicizing the process,” a senior EU diplomat noted.

At the same time, some leaders, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, support attempts to provide more flexible decision-making mechanisms, especially for Ukraine.

What preceded

The idea of adopting decisions, in particular, to start negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU, by means of qualified majority approval, rather than unanimous consent, was proposed by European Council President António Costa.

Costaʼs idea aims to simplify the process for Ukraine and Moldova, whose applications have been blocked for several months by Hungaryʼs veto. It would allow them to move forward even if several countries oppose, leaving the final decision to unanimous approval.

The proposal will be discussed in Copenhagen on Wednesday, October 1, along with another initiative on using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

• Ukraine and Moldova are moving synchronously along the path of European integration: both countries have completed the screening of legislation and are moving to the next stages of negotiations in parallel. At the same time, Kos noted that the EU is considering the option of separating Moldova from Ukraine in the accession process, due to Hungaryʼs blocking.
• In April 2025, the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called on Hungarians to vote against Ukraineʼs membership in the EU in a national poll. The results of this vote were released on June 26 — the Hungarian authorities claim that 95% of Hungarians are against Ukraineʼs accession to the EU.
• Denmark has called for increased pressure on Hungary for violating the fundamental principles of the European Union. Minister for European Affairs Marie Bjerre said that Copenhagen will seek to activate the procedure under Article 7 of the EU Treaty — also known as the "nuclear option" because it allows for limiting the rights of a member state, including depriving it of its vote in the EU Council.

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