EU chief announces major review saying bloc should grow to over 30 members

EU: Reviews to ensure bloc can function as it invites new members. Von der Leyen says EU must prepare to grow to more than 30 members. Pressure mounting for Europe to open its doors. Reviews to examine how policies in areas like economy, energy, agriculture, migration would need to be adapted. Accession is merit-based, progress in aligning laws with EU rules and standards should dictate pace of membership.

The European Union’s chief executive said Wednesday that her services will launch a major series of policy reviews to ensure that the 27-nation bloc can still function properly as it invites in new members in coming years.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU must prepare to grow to more than 30 members. Ukraine, Moldova and countries in the Western Balkans are among those in line.

Even at 27 strong, the world’s biggest trading bloc finds it difficult to make some decisions, particularly those requiring unanimous agreement. Hungary and Poland, notably, have come under fire from Brussels for democratic backsliding and they’ve routinely voted against foreign policy and migration decisions.

Still, pressure is mounting for Europe to open its doors. Concerns have been raised about Russia’s influence in the Western Balkans, particularly in Serbia and Bosnia. Some countries in the region have waited for years to join and have sometimes seen progress in their membership quest stymied.

“History is now calling us to work on completing our union,” Ms. von der Leyen told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. “In a world where size and weight matters, it is clearly in Europe’s strategic interest.”

At the same time, she said, “we need to look closer at each policy and see how they would be affected.” Ms. Von der Leyen said the commission’s reviews will examine how each policy sector in areas like the economy, energy, agriculture or migration would need to be adapted in the event of expansion.

“We will need to think about how our institutions would work — how the (EU) parliament and the commission would look. We need to discuss the future of our budget — in terms of what it finances, how it finances it, and how it is financed,” she said.