In recent times, the European Union's eastward expansion has been accompanied by a series of "combination punches." On the designated date, the West Balkans "Berlin Process" Summit was held, where the participating parties adopted the "Action Plan for the Common Regional Market in the West Balkans - 2023," aimed at further deepening economic integration in the West Balkans and aligning with the EU's single market.

On the ~th of the month, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (referred to as the Commission), made consecutive visits to the five Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) and the Kosovo region, which are eager to join the European Union. During these visits, she focused on discussing the EU's "Western Balkans Growth Initiative" and "Western Balkans Economic and Investment Plan," sending and conveying signals of the EU's intention to court and integrate new members from the Western Balkans.

On [date], the European Commission released the 2023 Enlargement Package, which covers the Western Balkans and Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. Ursula von der Leyen stated in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on [date] that EU enlargement is an "absolute priority" during her re-election period. According to AFP, discussions about EU enlargement in this region with nearly 70 million inhabitants date back to [number] years ago. However, during this time, Brussels has been indecisive. Now, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has prompted the EU to accelerate its plans for eastward expansion, aiming to counter Russia's influence in the region.

The Western Balkans, located at the intersection of multiple powers including the European Union, Russia, and Turkey, has always been a "battleground of strategic importance." After undergoing numerous changes, especially under the influence of the Ottoman Turkish Empire for centuries, the region has developed a complex distribution of ethnic groups and religious patterns. The national liberation movements of the ~ century and the decline of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires led to the rise of regional national consciousness. The intricate ethnic relations in the area made it the "powder keg of Europe" that ignited World War I.

During the interwar period, the first Yugoslavia ("Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes") was established under the intervention of the great powers. After World War II, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, led by Tito, became a regional power and played a pivotal role in the world's non-aligned movement. In the last decade of the 20th century, the Balkans experienced turbulent times, and long-standing ethnic and religious conflicts within the region erupted once again. Yugoslavia underwent a bloody war of disintegration, splitting into several countries: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and (North) Macedonia.

Entering the century, especially after the year, joining the European Union became a priority for many countries in the region. Economically, the EU, as the largest source of investment and trading partner for the region, has close trade ties with the Western Balkans. Driven by both interests and history, EU countries led by Germany began to strengthen their connections with Western Balkan members, believing that "a prosperous Europe needs a stable Western Balkans," and the most effective way to achieve this is by promoting their accession to the EU.

The EU's commitment to the accession of Western Balkan members began at the Thessaloniki Summit in a certain month and year. In the declaration adopted at the summit, the EU first explicitly stated that "the future of the Balkans lies within the EU." Subsequently, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Albania became EU candidate countries in the years ~, with Croatia even joining the EU in a certain year. However, the intertwined crises of the European debt crisis, the refugee crisis, and the Ukraine crisis have left the EU unable to focus on enlargement, and the "indefinite" prospect of accession has dampened the reform willingness of the Western Balkan members for EU membership.

For a time, the EU's "enlargement fatigue" became fully evident, and the prediction made by then-European Commission President Juncker at the beginning of his term—that "no country will join the union in the next five years"—came true. Subsequently, with changes in the geopolitical environment, the EU once again prioritized the accession of Western Balkan members. When von der Leyen took office as the European Commission President at the end of the year, she stated that she would work towards building a "geopolitical Commission," and the Western Balkans were identified as a "must-win territory" for the EU.

In [Month] [Year], the European Commission released the policy document "Accelerating the Accession Process – A Credible EU Perspective for the Western Balkans," which reinforced the reform intentions of Western Balkan members by reforming the accession mechanism and introducing "phased, progressive, and reversible" incentives and penalties. In the same month, the European Commission launched the "Western Balkans Economic and Investment Plan," aimed at financing key projects to promote regional development, guide the reform process, and promote EU standards.

In [Month], the Berlin Process Summit for the Western Balkans passed a decision to establish the "Common Regional Market of the Western Balkans," aiming to promote regional integration in the Western Balkans based on the EU's "Four Freedoms" (free movement of goods, services, capital, and people). This initiative seeks to foster reconciliation and cooperation among the countries in the region and prepare them for integration into the EU Single Market. "Dominated by reforms in the accession mechanism in the political sphere and by the 'Economic and Investment Plan' and the 'Common Regional Market of the Western Balkans' in the economic sphere," this approach has become the main policy tool for the EU to accelerate the accession of Western Balkan members under the new circumstances.

The outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the year has played a significant "catalyst" role in the accession process of Western Balkan members. From the perspective of the European Union, on one hand, it is concerned that Russia may exploit issues such as Kosovo and internal conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina to disrupt the situation in the Western Balkans; on the other hand, against the backdrop of disrupted energy supplies from Russia to Europe, the Western Balkans, as a transit route for energy pipelines and a key producer of raw materials, has become more strategically valuable. As a result, the European Union initiated accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia in the month of the year, and granted Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status in the same year. In the month of this year, the European Union began accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the "Berlin Process" Summit in Tirana, the EU officially launched the "Western Balkans Growth Plan" in the month of the year, aiming to break down barriers between existing mechanisms through the "four pillars" of integration of the Western Balkans with the EU single market, economic integration within the Western Balkans, fundamental reforms, and the Western Balkans Reform and Growth Mechanism. By introducing a stronger conditional mechanism, EU funds are linked to the reform performance of regional countries, thereby enhancing the EU's leading role.

The European Union has ultimately decided to provide incentives for regional country reforms through the "Reform and Growth Mechanism" with a fund of billions of euros (including grants of billions of euros and low-interest loans of billions of euros). Under this mechanism, countries are required to submit a "Reform Agenda" to the European Commission as a prerequisite for receiving funds, which will set specific reform goals and methods for each country. In June of this year, the "Western Balkans Growth Initiative" officially took effect. On October 10, the European Commission approved the "Reform Agenda" for Western Balkan members, excluding Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Von der Leyen's visits began against the backdrop mentioned above. From the perspective of the EU, the "Reform Agenda" under the "Western Balkans Growth Initiative" will strengthen the EU's leadership in the region. EU policymakers believe that the "enlargement fatigue" previously experienced was due to the lack of incentives for reform among regional countries, given the difficulty in formally integrating Western Balkan members into the EU. By establishing the "Reform Agenda," the EU ties reform performance to the funds received, the accession process, and the degree of access to the EU market. This will provide the EU with more leverage in its negotiations with Western Balkan members, requiring regional members to accelerate their accession reforms.

It is noteworthy that the EU also requires Western Balkan members to "align with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy," which implies that the EU will also evaluate the relationships of regional members with "external forces" such as Russia and China. In comparison, Western Balkan members have relatively limited say in the EU's various reform measures. Whether it is the reform of the accession mechanism, the EU's economic stimulus initiatives and plans, or the drafting of negotiation documents on the Kosovo issue, these are all dominated by major powers such as France and Germany, while regional members are more often policy recipients.

Although the EU intends to tighten its ties of interest with the Western Balkan members and enhance its reform leadership over the regional members, the accession process of the Western Balkan members still faces multiple obstacles and challenges. One is that the EU's own mechanisms are difficult to adapt to the scale of member states after expansion. In [month], French President Emmanuel Macron vetoed the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, arguing that reforms to the EU's enlargement mechanism and its internal decision-making mechanisms are needed first.

On one hand, the "one-time irreversibility" of the enlargement mechanism has led to issues such as so-called "democratic regression" in countries like Hungary and Poland after their accession to the EU. On the other hand, the EU's decision-making mechanism of "unanimity" is already difficult to implement given the current context of its member states. If all Western Balkan members were to be fully integrated, the EU with multiple member states would fall into a state of "decision-making paralysis." Although the EU subsequently reformed the enlargement mechanism, creating a new "phased, gradual, and reversible" mechanism, and reinforced it through the "Western Balkans Growth Plan," there is still no consensus among EU countries on reforms to internal decision-making powers.

In the month of the year, the governments of France and Germany invited experts to draft a report on EU institutional reform, proposing to change the voting system from "unanimity" to "effective majority" and establish a more core "inner circle" of decision-making countries within the EU. This proposal was immediately met with resistance from Central and Eastern European countries, who saw it as a scheme by France and Germany to continue dominating the EU and dilute the sovereignty of smaller nations. Given that EU institutional reform is a matter of core interest to all member states and requires consensus from each country.