EU candidate countries should be able to gradually unlock privileges such as partial access to the bloc’s single market to keep them motivated while they wait for full membership, Paris and Berlin have suggested in a new joint paper. In the discussion paper, circulated ahead of a Western Balkans summit and seen by POLITICO, aspiring EU members could also win observer status at key meetings, as well as other perks, to avoid disenchantment with the process. The idea would be to bring “candidate