The European Commission is preparing a plan for "gradual integration", through which candidate countries will benefit from economic advantages before official accession to the EU.

The European Union intends to implement a "gradual integration" system to provide economic benefits to candidate countries before official accession.

The European Commission is developing a plan that would allow access to EU programs as these countries meet the necessary reforms. Among the discussed advantages are access to European funds, preferential trade agreements, and partial entry into the single market. This approach aims to maintain interest and the pace of reforms among candidate states, considering that the accession process can take years.

Although there is political support for this plan, Ukraine and Montenegro reject the idea of "partial accession," emphasizing that it should not replace full accession.

Currently, the EU has nine official candidate countries, and European leaders will discuss the expansion of this framework at the European Council in October.