The EU has developed a policy to support the gradual integration of the Western Balkan countries with the Union. The EU aims to promote peace, stability and economic development in the region&nbsp;and open up the prospect of EU integration.

In order to apply for EU membership a country has to be European and respect the EU’s democratic values. It also needs stable institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the ability to take on and carry out the obligations of EU membership.

Parliament is fully involved in the Stabilisation and Association Process &nbsp;and must also consent to any new accession to the EU. In addition, through its budgetary powers, it has direct influence over the amounts allocated to the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance. Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs appoints standing rapporteurs for all candidate and potential candidate countries. Parliament expresses its positions on enlargement in the form of annual resolutions responding to the Commission’s latest annual country reports.

On 1&nbsp;July&nbsp;2013, Croatia became the first of the seven countries to join, and Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania are official candidates. Accession negotiations and chapters have been opened with Montenegro and Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidate countries.

EU - Serbia (T)

Enlargement to Bosnia and Herzegovina (T)

Enlargement to North Macedonia (T)

Enlargement to Montenegro (T)

EU - North Macedonia (T)

Enlargement to Albania (T)

EU - Bosnia and Herzegovina (T)

EU - Kosovo (T)

Enlargement to Kosovo (T)

Enlargement to Serbia (T)

EU - Montenegro (T)

EU - Albania (T)

Western Balkans

Enlargement to the Western Balkans countries (T)

EU Enlargement - Western Balkans

Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia,&nbsp;two journalists, imprisoned in Belarus and Georgia, are the laureates of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

President Metsola awarded the 2025 Sakharov Prize to the representatives of the two journalists at a ceremony&nbsp;in Strasbourg.

At the award ceremony for the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought ,&nbsp;President Roberta Metsola said: "I am proud to award this year’s Sakharov Prize to journalists Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli in recognition of their brave fight for freedom of expression and the democratic future of Belarus and Georgia. This House stands in solidarity with Mzia and Andrzej and calls for their immediate release from prison — because speaking truth to power must never be a crime." 
 
The other two finalists were: Journalists and Humanitarian Aid Workers in Palestine and all conflict zones, represented by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, the Red Crescent, and UNRWA; Serbian students. 
 
The award ceremony for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which includes an allocation of 50,000 euros, took&nbsp;place on Tuesday 16 December 2025 in Strasbourg.

Awarded for the first time in 1988 to Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work. It gives recognition to individuals, groups and organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to protecting freedom of thought. Through the prize and its associated network the EU assists laureates, who are supported and empowered in their efforts to defend their causes.

Sakharov Prize

Sakharov Prize 2025

The EU is debating its own protection against the&nbsp;incursions into European airspace,&nbsp;following the&nbsp;incidents in which Russian drones and aircraft violated&nbsp;European countries&nbsp;airspace in recent months. It also comes after drones of unidentified origin caused disturbances at and around civilian airports and military bases in Denmark – events that the Danish authorities have referred to as “concerted hybrid attacks”.

​​​At a critical time for Ukraine and European security, the EU is committed to becoming more responsible for its own defence and better equipped to act and deal autonomously with immediate and future challenges and threats, including Russia’s war and its repercussions on European security, which constitute an existential challenge for the EU.

The common security and defence policy (CSDP) is an integral part of the EU’s common foreign and security policy (CFSP). The CSDP is the main policy framework through which Member States can develop a European strategic culture of security and defence, address conflicts and crises together, protect the Union and its citizens, and strengthen international peace and security. As a result of the tense geopolitical context, the CSDP has been one of the fastest developing policies over the last 10 years.

European security and defence

The EP President Roberta Metsola was&nbsp;in Ukraine in September&nbsp;to express Europe´s continued&nbsp;support to the country. In her meetings with Ukraininan representatives she&nbsp;expressed support to permanent, just and real peace, strenghtened parliamentary cooperation, continued efforts to weaken Russia&nbsp;through coordinated and strong sanctions and the need to advance on Ukraine´s membership bid.

Ever since Russia launched an illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24&nbsp;February 2022, the EU and the Parliament have supported the country by condemning Russia’s aggression, sanctioning those responsible and providing financial and material aid. Parliament has also been supportive of Ukraine’s efforts to become an EU candidate country and has been calling on EU countries to launch accession talks.

The&nbsp;new EP reconfirmed in July 2024&nbsp; its view that the EU must continue to support Kyiv for as long as it takes until victory. The resolution, which sets out the newly-elected European Parliament’s first official position on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, restates the continued support of MEPs for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. It calls on the EU to maintain and extend its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus, monitor and review its effectiveness and impact, and systematically tackle the issue of sanctions circumvention by EU-based companies, third parties, and third countries.



Using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction is the subject of a debate with Commission and Council representatives. MEPs, the Commission, and the Danish Council Presidency discuss ending all energy imports from Russia and closing loopholes that enable imports via non-EU countries.

Solidarity with Ukraine

On 1 January 2026, Cyprus assumed the Presidency of the Council of the EU, taking on a central role in shaping the direction of the Union. This marks the second occasion on which Cyprus has assumed the Presidency, following its first term in 2012.

 

Priorities of the Presidency:

Autonomy through Security, Defence Readiness and Preparedness 
Autonomy through Competitiveness 
Open to the World, Autonomous 
An Autonomous Union of Values that Leaves No One Behind 
A long-term budget for an Autonomous Union

Cypriot Presidency

Have a look at stockshots (from 2021 onwards) with illustrative pre-edited broadcast quality video footage. These editable stockshots are clean (raw), with natural sound (no voice-over), produced to illustrate priority EU dossiers and parliamentary work. They are intended to help audiovisual media produce their own programs, for example, editing of news reports or documentaries.

Stockshots are clean (raw), with natural sound (no voice-over), pre-edited videos

9th parliamentary term

Infoclips (T)

Infoclips - Illustrative footage

Launched in 1962, the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) is a partnership between agriculture and society, and between Europe and its farmers. It aims to: support farmers and improve agricultural productivity, ensuring a stable supply of affordable food; safeguard European Union farmers to make a reasonable living; help tackle climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources; maintain rural areas and landscapes across the EU; keep the rural economy alive by promoting jobs in farming, agri-food industries and associated sectors.

The CAP is a common policy for all EU countries. It is managed and funded at European level from the resources of the EU’s budget. CAP 2023-27 To consolidate the role of European agriculture for the future, the CAP has evolved over the years to meet changing economic circumstances and citizens’ requirements and needs.

The CAP 2023-27 entered into force on 1 January 2023.&nbsp;Support for farmers and rural stakeholders across the 27 EU countries is based on the CAP 2023-27 legal framework and the choices detailed in the&nbsp;CAP Strategic Plans, approved by the Commission. The approved Plans are designed to make a significant contribution to the ambitions of the&nbsp;European Green Deal,&nbsp;Farm to Fork Strategy&nbsp;and&nbsp;Biodiversity Strategy.

Common agricultural policy (CAP)

The constitutive meetings of the European Parliament's standing committees and subcommittees take place in Brussels on 10 July 2019, following the appointment of their members in the plenary sitting of 3-4 July. During the meetings, each committee and subcommittee will elect its respective bureau, made up of a Chair and Vice-Chairs, for a two-and-a-half year mandate. The newly set up committees will then start holding their regular meetings during the week of 22 July.

AGRI - Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

The pro-European party of Moldovan President Maia Sandu secured a victory and a new majority in parliament in elections seen as critical for her country's future path to the EU.&nbsp;Moldovans were voting&nbsp;on 28 September amidst Russian hybrid attacks and interference. Sandu´s&nbsp;&nbsp;Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) obtained 50% of the vote, with most of the 1.6m votes counted, far ahead of the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc on under 25%. Turnout was 52%.

" The future of Moldova is in Europe, on this historic step forward, the people of Moldova have chosen the path of democracy, hope and opportunities.&nbsp;They have chosen Europe.", said President of the EP Roberta Metsola.

A delegation of MEPs, working with representatives of other international institutions, was&nbsp;observing Moldova’s parliamentary elections during the weekend.

EU - Moldova

MEPs elected Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) on January 2022 as President of the European Parliament until 2024.

Roberta Metsola won the election in the first voting round, where she received an absolute majority of 458 votes out of 690 cast in the remote secret vote, among three candidates.&nbsp;

President Metsola is leading the Parliament in the second half of the current legislative term, until a new Parliament is constituted following the 2024 European Elections.

Born in Malta in 1979,&nbsp; Roberta Metsola who has been an MEP since 2013, is the youngest EP President ever elected. She became First Vice-President in November 2020, and was Parliament’s acting President after President Sassoli passed away on 11 January 2022.

She is the third female President of the European Parliament, after Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999- 2002).

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament 2022-2024

Moldova formally applied for EU membership on 3 March. The European Commission concluded&nbsp;that the country has a solid foundation in place to reach the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities; macroeconomic policies have been reasonably sound and progress has been made in strengthening the financial sector and business environment but key economic reforms remain to be undertaken; the country has established a solid basis to further alignment with the EU acquis. On this basis, the Commission recommended&nbsp;that Moldova be given the perspective to become a member of the European Union.&nbsp;The European Council has decided to grant the status of candidate country&nbsp; to the Republic of Moldova in June 2022.

Moldova's application for EU membership

In July 2024&nbsp; MEPs re-elected Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) as President of the European Parliament until 2027, with 562 votes in the first round. Roberta Metsola won the election in the first round of voting, where she received an absolute majority of 562 votes cast out of 699 by secret paper ballot, among two candidates. She will continue to lead Parliament for the first two and a half years of the 10th legislative term.

Born in Malta in 1979, Roberta Metsola has been an MEP since 2013.&nbsp;She was elected First Vice-President in November 2020, and was Parliament’s acting President after President Sassoli passed away on 11 January 2022. On 18 January 2022,&nbsp;she was elected President&nbsp;for the second half of the 9th legislative term. She is the third female President of the European Parliament, after&nbsp;Simone Veil&nbsp;(1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999-2002).

Addressing the House after she was elected, President Metsola said: “Together, we must stand up for the politics of hope, for the dream that is Europe. I want people to recapture a sense of belief and enthusiasm for our project. A belief to make our shared space safer, fairer, more just and more equal. A belief that together we are stronger and we are better. A belief that ours is a Europe for all.”

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