"EU's Strategies for a Functional Enlarged Bloc: Cash Incentives and Market Access for Candidates"
European Union governments are discussing how to reform EU decision-making and finances in preparation for the potential enlargement of the bloc. The European Commission plans to propose cash and market access for candidate countries to expedite their membership preparations. The EU is currently considering eight countries with official candidate status and two potential candidate countries. The Commission will present a package of measures to offer gradual market access and additional funding to help these countries reform. The discussions also involve a paper by French and German scholars calling for a radical overhaul of decision-making and funding before accepting new members. Changes to agriculture policy, regional policy, and the EU budget would be necessary if new members were to join. The paper suggests the creation of four tiers of European integration, with closer cooperation allowed for some countries.