Tallinn, (MINA) – Montenegro’s EU Accession Treaty should be the first of “the new generation” of treaties with stronger safeguards, said EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos.

Speaking at the enlargement conference in Tallinn, she stressed that full EU membership can never come at the detriment of fundamental reforms, adding that Montenegro, which is working to close all negotiation chapters by the end of the year, could set the standard for future enlargements.

“We have come to a point where a frank debate is needed to provide answers to a central question: how can we implement our ingredients of success (of the EU enlargement) in a world that bears little comparison to the times of 2004 and 2007?”, Kos stated, European Western Balkans reports.

She said that she sees five crucial elements, the first being “no shortcuts on reforms”.

“Fighting corruption and building democratic institutions remain the foundation of EU enlargement. Full EU membership can never come at the detriment of those fundamental reforms”, Marta Kos said.

Speaking about the second element, she said that there should be “no Trojan horses” and the EU should be safeguarded against backward steps.

“A lesson learned from 2004 is that we need to have safeguards that ensure new members stick to the rules and the integrity of our Union is assured, even 5, 10, 20 years down the line”, Kos said.

She warned that without credible safeguards, public support for enlargement could fall short.

“This is why I plead that the next accession treaties should contain stronger safeguards against backsliding on commitments made during the accession negotiations to ensure that the new Member States continue to maintain their track record on the fundamentals,” the European Commissioner said.

Since Montenegro is working to close all the chapters by the end of this year, Kos said that its accession treaty should be the first of this new generation.

“Simply put, if the new members respect the rules, they will not even notice those safeguards. But, if countries go backwards on our fundamentals, such as rule of law and the fundamentals, these safeguards must bite hard”, Marta Kos explained.

She added that the Commission would send this proposal to the Council of the EU to take this decision forward.

“Third, the EU needs to get ready for new members. We are currently working on the assessments of the impact of enlargement, so we make sure that the Union of more than 30 countries will be credible and effective in delivering to all our citizens across the EU”, Marta Kos said.

Speaking about the fourth element, Kos said that the EU needs to reward those who deliver on reforms and alignment with the EU rules with faster EU integration, while the fifth element, she noted, is ensuring a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.