32. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for a report on the discussion on EU enlargement at the EU General Affairs Council on 11 May 2026. [37821/26]

On 11-12 May, Cyprus hosted an informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council.  Ministers from all candidate and potential candidate countries – except Georgia – were invited to join the discussion on enlargement.  Eight of these countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine) attended. The Minister for European Affairs, who represented Ireland, also held bilateral meetings in the margins of the informal Council with the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and with the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bosnia & Herzegovina.

During the discussion at the informal Council, there was wide agreement on the geopolitical importance of EU enlargement. Following the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, enlargement has  re-emerged as a strong policy priority for EU Member States and the European Commission as a way to protect the prosperity and security of the European continent.

The Ministers attending the informal Council supported the merit-based nature of the enlargement process and its “Fundamentals First” approach. Candidate and potential candidate countries must first implement necessary reforms in the areas of Rule of Law, the Judiciary and Fundamentals to advance in their path towards EU membership. This ensures that adherence to the Rule of Law and the protection of fundamental EU rights remain the bedrock of the EU accession process.

Gradual integration was also part of the discussion. Ministers pointed to gradual integration as a tool to make enlargement more tangible for candidate and potential candidate countries before accession - supporting and accelerating their progress, though not replacing full EU membership. Ireland strongly supports gradual integration as an effective tool to reinforce credibility, accelerate reforms, and make the accession process more tangible and results driven.

Ministers also underlined the importance of strategic communication with the public in both EU and candidate and potential candidate countries as an instrument to maintain public support for enlargement, as well as to counter anti-EU and enlargement narratives and to address EU enlargement process fatigue in some candidate countries.