EU enlargement is increasingly recognised as a geostrategic imperative, but its potential to boost the competitiveness and prosperity of the enlarged EU remains underexplored. This policy brief holds that EU enlargement should be viewed not only as an investment in peace, stability and security. At a time when Europe faces weak productivity growth, an ageing workforce, fragmented markets, insufficient investment and intensifying global competition, it should also be seen as a competitiveness strategy.
The next enlargement could strengthen the single market through numerous, mutually reinforcing channels. It could improve the business environment and regulatory predictability, diversify supply chains and increase investment opportunities. Gains could accrue from nearshoring and from multiplying Europe’s talent and labour pool, as well as its digital capabilities. Enlargement would also help to secure access to critical raw materials and expand industrial value chains, along with extending transport, energy and digital connectivity. And it would reinforce Europe’s security and economic resilience.
The policy brief therefore argues for treating enlargement as an integral part of the EU’s long-term competitiveness strategy and for accelerating the economic integration of its candidate countries, following merit-based approach.
About the authors:
Dr. Tinatin Akhvlediani is Head of the Enlargement Programme at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), where she specialises in EU enlargement and Eastern neighbourhood policies.
Pierre-Alexandre Balland currently serves as the Chief Data Scientist of the Centre for European Policy Studies and is a Visiting Professor of the Growth Lab at Harvard University.
Andrea Renda is Director of Research at CEPS since 1 November 2023. He also leads the CEPS Unit on Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation and the Digital Economy (GRID).