Austria and Slovenia are among the European Union member states advocating for the introduction of qualified majority voting in decisions on EU enlargement.

The proposal, which has been under discussion for months, seeks to reduce the hurdles created by the current unanimity requirement, which allows any member state to veto the start of accession negotiations or the admission of new members.

If adopted, the move could accelerate the accession process for countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, and potentially Western Balkan states like North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo. However, reaching consensus within the EU remains challenging.

On October 6, Austrian Minister for Europe Claudia Plakolm and Slovenian State Secretary for European Affairs Neva Grašić visited North Macedonia and Kosovo to discuss EU integration and regional cooperation in this context.

In North Macedonia, Minister for European Integration Orhan Murtezani met with Plakolm and Grašić, focusing on strengthening cooperation in European integration, institutional connectivity, economic partnership, and sustainable development policies, the government in Skopje said.

Murtezani stressed that Austria and Slovenia remain among North Macedonia’s most consistent partners and supporters in its EU path and in maintaining its role as a “driver of stability and reforms” in the Western Balkans.

The government statement made no reference to qualified majority voting. However, a spokesperson for Claudia Plakolm told APA on October 6 that “Austria will advocate for a qualified majority in the accession process.” Plakolm added, “For over 20 years, we have been waiting on the promise that North Macedonia will become part of the EU.”

The government in Pristina said that Kosovo’s acting first deputy prime minister for European integration, Besnik Bislimi, met with Plakolm and Grašić to discuss the EU Growth Plan, the Berlin Process, the EU enlargement agenda, regional security, the ongoing dialogue process and the full lifting of EU measures against Kosovo.

The proposal for a qualified majority was first put forward last year by Germany and Slovenia through a non-paper suggesting that decisions on candidate countries could be approved if supported by 55% of member states representing 65% of the EU population, while retaining unanimity for the formal start and completion of accession negotiations, Telma reported. So far, 16 of 27 EU members support the initiative.

Domestic experts see the move as a way to unblock North Macedonia’s stalled EU integration. The plan has gained momentum following Hungary’s opposition to Ukraine’s EU membership, even after Kyiv completed the Brussels screening process. A “milder” version would keep unanimity for the start and end of negotiations but allow technical decisions during negotiations to be made by qualified majority.

At the European Council informal meeting in Copenhagen on October 1, President Antonio Costa’s proposal to replace unanimity with qualified majority voting in EU enlargement decisions was rejected. The two topics were how to strengthen Europe's common defence and support for Ukraine.

However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was among the strongest opponents of the initiative, effectively blocking the move towards greater EU functionality and preserving the veto power of individual member states.

The leaders are expected to revisit both issues at the next European Council meeting on October 23–24.

Countries backing the initiative include Austria, Slovenia, Germany and Italy, while France, the Netherlands, Greece and Hungary oppose it, citing concerns about losing veto powers in areas they consider sensitive, such as Turkey, North Macedonia and Serbia.