
Leaked draft proposals reveal European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is pushing to eliminate national vetoes on EU enlargement decisions and expand majority voting in the bloc’s decision-making, according to documents circulating in Brussels .
The move comes as von der Leyen continues a Western Balkans tour, where she reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to enlargement. In Tirana on Wednesday, she told reporters that Albania’s accession bid was “in sight,” calling the country a “front-runner” in the process after it closed three negotiating chapters in July and opened final clusters of talks .
Von der Leyen emphasized Albania’s full alignment with the EU’s common foreign and security policy but stressed that further reforms in justice, electoral frameworks, and environmental protection were required. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama pledged to close additional chapters by year’s end, citing progress in combating corruption and organized crime .
The leaked drafts suggest the Commission seeks to streamline enlargement by reducing the power of individual member states to block new accessions, a shift that would require treaty changes or intergovernmental agreements. The proposal aligns with von der Leyen’s broader push to accelerate integration, including a reported plan to grant candidate countries a Commissioner before full membership .
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