The Impact of the War in Ukraine on the Enlargement of the European Union

The European Union’s enlargement policy has undergone a significant revival in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Enlargement, long associated with conditionality and normative integration, has increasingly been reframed in strategic and geopolitical terms. This chapter examines how Ukraine’s application for membership brings into focus both the strengths and the limitations of the EU’s institutional architecture as regards the enlargement process, where the Council retains decisive control through unanimity, the Commission provides technical and legal assessments without binding force, and the European Parliament contributes to political legitimacy and agenda-setting despite limited formal powers. Drawing on the Copenhagen criteria, Article 49 TEU, and recent reform debates, the chapter traces the evolution of conditionality from its classical compliance-for-reward logic towards more flexible and strategic applications. The Ukrainian case is analysed in depth, with attention to the Association Agreement, rule-of-law challenges, the July 2025 anti-corruption controversy, and proposals for phased integration. It concludes by presenting proposals for reform in order to ensure that EU enlargement is a more resilient, credible, and geopolitically responsive enlargement framework.