Germany: Start talks to let Ukraine into EU

The Times: Germany has urged Ukraine to start formal EU accession talks before the end of the year and suggested that candidate countries should be given some membership benefits before they fully join the bloc. The German foreign minister says there can be no “discounts or shortcuts” on the path to EU membership. But even before joining, candidates could gain access to EU funding, the Erasmus student exchange program, have simplified visa regimes or observer status in the main decision-making forums in Brussels.

▪️ Germany would like a tougher mechanism to penalize member states that lag behind on rule of law or democracy issues. Also, in enlarging the bloc, we should think about decision-making by “qualified majority” vote, in which objections from individual states can be overcome with the support of at least 15 countries representing at least 65% of the EU’s population.

The entire article can be read at the link https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/germany-start-talks-let-ukraine-eu-annalena-baerbock-0wt5kmrfd