EU shouldn’t leave newer members behind, Dombrovskis says on enlargement anniversary

Expanding the EU’s ranks has been an “overall” success — but an economic chasm between member countries persists, the bloc’s trade and economics chief said Wednesday.

Twenty years after 10 Central and Eastern European countries joined the EU, it’s clear enlargement was the right move “both geopolitically and economically,” trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook in an interview, adding that it was imperative for the EU to move quickly on Ukraine and Moldova’s bids for entry, too.

But Dombrovskis also warned the bloc faces growth inequalities and “competitiveness challenges” among its existing members that could hurt it in the long run.

“We are facing the green and digital transformation of our economies … and it’s very important that in this process we are not leaving countries and regions behind,” Dombrovskis said, speaking ahead of the celebrations of 20 years of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joining the EU.

Wealthier European countries attempting to compete with American and Chinese subsidies risk tearing apart the single market’s level playing field, he added.

“Not all countries have equal possibilities. Countries in the south and countries in the east will not be able to subsidize their companies as massively as Germany or France,” Dombrovskis said.

He added that the EU should look at Union-wide funding instruments to protect that level playing field. “From my point of view, the more flexibility there is on state aid, the more flexibility there needs to be for redistributions through the EU budget,” Dombrovskis said.

Speaking about the geopolitical impact of EU expansion, the Latvian commissioner said it had “made the EU a stronger, bigger global player. And it firmly placed the new member states within the Western democratic world.”

Dombrovskis said enlargement was possible in the case of the Baltic countries in 2004 because it happened during a short period when Russia was less authoritarian.

“We used this geopolitical window of opportunity, soon after regaining independence, towards integration in the EU and NATO,” Dombrovskis said. But some countries were left behind “in the gray zone, between Russia and the West.”

Dombrovskis argued it was important for the EU move quickly on Ukraine and Moldova’s bids to join the Union. The EU opened membership talks with the two countries in December, but they’re waiting for the 27 European capitals to agree on the negotiating frameworks that set the guidelines and basic principles for their accession talks before negotiations can formally start. Dombrovskis argued this should ideally be done by the European Council summit in June.

“The world is watching. Now is not the time to dither,” he said.

Noting the dearth of leaders from Central and Eastern European countries in Brussels, he also called for the EU to appoint someone from that region to one of its top jobs after the June European parliamentary election.

“If you look at most of the top jobs and even also at the managerial level in the EU institutions, actually the Central-Eastern European region is still underrepresented,” Dombrovskis said.