Key concerns for EU member states in relation to future enlargement of the EU 2023

According to experts surveyed in 2023, the most important issues regarding the expansion of the European Union to include new member states - measured by how many member states consider the issues a priority - are the cohesion of the EU, budgetary issues, and the potential for geopolitical issues and conflicts. The issue of EU enlargement has resurfaced as a key priority of the EU in 2022 and 2023, as Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine underlined the potential geopolitical weakness of an EU that does not include the states of the western Balkans, as well as Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. While a majority of EU citizens support enlargement, there are a number of difficult policy issues which must be confronted before new member states can be admitted to the union. The cohesion of the European Union - i.e. being able to govern effectively in an expanded EU - is a core issue which national policymakers wish to see addressed before expansion takes place, with possible changes including a modification of the European Council's voting rules, an increase in the powers of the European Parliament, or even a treaty change to the rules governing the EU as a whole.