![Cover for: Twenty years later](https://www.eurozine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/6a829462e17f1c5f7024f723a2705fd6.jpeg)
There is now wide consensus across the EU that after twenty years of deadlock a new approach is needed to the accession of the western Balkan countries. But political momentum for a 30+ Union will not translate into real progress unless the public administrations of would-be members undergo far-reaching reforms.