Shadowing Practice: It's HERE! The EU's Big Reform Plan - Learn English Speaking with Video
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So, obviously not in the studio today, but I really do want to keep you informed about all the exciting things happening around enlargement and reform.
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And there's another milestone that we achieved on Wednesday this week.
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And this was because our president, Ursula von der Leyen, or at least the commission president, together with Marta Koss, who's the commissioner for enlargement, stood in front of the cameras
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and basically presented a plan of how the EU should prepare
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for the next wave of enlargement enlargement is in our interest it is about protecting our interests
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and defending our values a larger union is a long -term investments in europe's peace security
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and prosperity which is very interesting
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because guys i mentioned before we are getting close to a 28th member montenegro is the front runner
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and at some point we might actually have over 30 members of the european union
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so yeah things in the union obviously have to change to accommodate for
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that and they actually presented six core proposals
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which we'll look into in this video
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and the first one is all about gradual integration i mean
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we've actually talked about this before in our previous videos
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but what it means is today you're either a full member of the european union
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or you're pretty much no member at all it's a very black
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and white situation and with gradual integration the idea is
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that candidate countries can potentially participate in the single market early without being a full member of course
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while tied to reforms and and democratic backsliding and things like
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that right it's not only given that you get single market access
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which makes this very powerful
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because we can use it as leverage for these countries to reform
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and yeah ultimately join the eu in the future
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and it's not just the single markets the commission explicitly mentioned energy transport digital
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and defense for other areas where we could see deeper integration early
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and another critical thing they said is
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that this will not replace any sort of full eu membership
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it's an intermediary step towards becoming a full full eu member
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which is very interesting and to be honest as mentioned in previous videos Because Moldova is kind of already living this model,
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which you can see in the video linked above.
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And then we go to the next one, which, my God, it's my favorite, as you all know.
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Removing the veto.
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Removing unanimity.
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And, my God, I hope it happens soon.
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I'm happy the Commission has proposed it.
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But only in a few areas.
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In sanctions, in tackling tax fraud, and fiscal measures in energy policy.
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Which is a start, I guess.
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And they want to do it via something called the Passerelle Clause.
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This means we don't have to change the EU treaties.
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We can actually do it now if the council agrees.
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So if the council, which is the 27 nation states or the 27 member states sitting together, agree to remove the veto unanimously for,
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for example, sanctions, then from now on we can do QMV for sanctions.
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But yeah, you obviously have to beat the veto before removing the veto, if you know what i mean um
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and the cool thing is the commission also talked about removing the veto for the enlargement process
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so not the final step
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so of course the ratification at the end by all of
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the 27 member states for a new member joining would of course still take place
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which is a veto in itself
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but the actual process of closing all of those chapters for a country to join
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which now requires a veto at every step there we would also work with qualified majority voting
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which is also a good step forward.
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And that brings us to the third part.
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And this is about safeguards, basically avoiding a Hungary problem in the future.
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And the idea here would be for new members joining for 15 years,
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the EU would have a mechanism that we could use in order to ensure what the commission says, sincere cooperation.
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So let me give you an example.
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If we get a new Orban in one of the new
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countries joining us then what we could do is we could stop giving funds to
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that country and we could also remove their voting rights for at least 15 years.
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Which I think is a good thing because
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that will make us feel a bit more comfortable to get these countries to join
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and see that they also you know want to work with us in a cooperative manner for example.
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And then we have the next one
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which is pretty much also about sincere cooperation
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because this is about a new member joining the eu
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and then that new member not being allowed to straight away start vetoing new members
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that want to join the eu right
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and i think this was literally made for the western balkans
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or this proposal is for the western balkans i mean just imagine serbia joining the EU.
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Do you think they will ever allow Kosovo to join the EU?
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Definitely not.
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And I think you can say a lot about all of the different countries in Western Balkans.
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They would all block each other from joining.
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So this new rule would state, hey, you can join the EU, but for the first couple of years, I don't think the exact timeline has been mentioned in the proposal,
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they are not allowed to veto future members joining the European Union.
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And then there is another proposal I really like that the Commission gave, and that's all about transition periods now the way you should imagine this is
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that when a country joins the eu they don't get access to everything
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that eu members enjoy straight away their transition periods
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and these can be very very long maybe 10 15 20 years
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and this could be for areas like the free movement of workers
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or free movement of services agriculture eu funding
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and common eu systems etc i mean just look at agriculture
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this is always the one of the biggest blockers for ukraine because ukraine has as much farmland as Germany and France combined, at least almost.
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So, of course, they would get so many funds under the current rules in the EU for the farmers.
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And yeah, just imagine the French farmers.
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Dude, they're never going to accept it, right?
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You can see Brussels burning already.
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So, this transition period would say, look, in order to take advantage of the cap, you will have to be a member for at least, I don't know, 15 years.
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Or maybe like a transition over 15 years where some parts of the cap will apply in five years
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and more in 10, etc. That gives time for Europe to adjust and maybe also to reform the cap.
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I know that's a touchy topic, but maybe that's something we should consider.
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And the same goes, for example, the free movement of labor, right?
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I mean, the Western Balkans.
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There's a lot of people there that might want to work in Europe and maybe we make a transition.
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They're not straight away.
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All of these workers are allowed to come and work in the EU, but only after five or X years.
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So again, that countries can adjust.
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And the same, of course, goes for EU funds.
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I mean, obviously, Ukraine, Moldova, they're still quite poor countries.
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So maybe there's also a transition period for them receiving EU funds.
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So I think that's a very good thing to think about for EU membership.
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And then lastly, we get to what's called enhanced cooperation.
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Now, the treaties do allow for this, but the commission wants to actively push it.
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And what it means is a small number of countries, so I think a minimum of nine, can get together and move forward with certain topics, right?
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So I know the commission ultimately says this is not a two -tiered EU
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because these nine countries will only be able to move on certain topics.
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But to be honest, that's kind of where it's pointing at, if you ask me.
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And they didn't really mention an area where these countries can move together.
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But for me, most sense, again, would be foreign policy.
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Having nine countries agree, look, foreign policy, we want to use QMV.
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Maybe we want to have an EU or a foreign minister for these nine countries.
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I don't know.
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But something like that is also on the cards, which I think is, yeah, is very exciting.
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So having talked about all of this, what do I think about it?
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Well, you know me.
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I love everything to do with reform and I love enlargement.
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I think they're two crucial pieces of making this union viable in the future.
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And seeing any move towards this goal is, for me, a win.
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And I'll take that win.
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Do I wish for more?
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Yes, of course I do.
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I want the veto removed for a lot more areas.
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All of foreign policy, there should not be a veto.
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The EU should talk in one voice.
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The European Parliament, it needs more power.
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And there's nothing about that in this proposal, which I guess also makes sense because this is focused at enlargement.
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So yeah, it is a bit too little.
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And to be honest, also a bit too late, right?
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I mean, we're literally in year seven, or is it year eight even of von der Leyen's presidency.
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And we still haven't seen all of this stuff actually happen.
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And the problem is, this is just a proposal from the commission.
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And next week, I mean, next week, we're probably going to live stream this, but that's the critical piece.
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Because then this proposal is going to be discussed among the 27 member states of the EU.
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And even though this is the bare minimum, if you ask me, I could imagine some of this stuff being crossed out um i'm already like reading
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that small countries are not very much in favor of removing the veto for anything
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which is uh such a shame and i think it's very very short -sighted
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and i really really hope that they can reconsider anyway
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but um all in all great move forward
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and i will keep you informed about anything to do with reform
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and with enlargement and with that being said see you all in the next video
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and if you do want to support us make sure you sign up to steady or Patreon or become a YouTube member.
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Every Euro, guys, really helps us.
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We have this ambitious goal of meeting, what was it?
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50 % exactly, 50 % of our salaries with your contributions by the end of the year.
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And at the moment, we're, I think, at 23%, which is great, but a long way to go.
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Thank you, guys.
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And especially thank you to the presidents and all the members that support us already.
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You guys are awesome.
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All right, see you in the next video.
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Bye -bye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “It's HERE! The EU's Big Reform Plan”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: member, countries, veto, commission, enlargement. This video has 151 sentences and 1852 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:02. The speaker talks fast, about 185 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| veto noun | /ˈvi.toʊ/ | A political right to disapprove of (and thereby stop) the process of a decision, a law etc. |
| proposal noun | /pɹəˈpoʊzəl/ | A scheme or design. |
| transition noun | /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/ | The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| cooperation noun | /koʊˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/ | The act of cooperating. |
| integration noun | /ˌɪn.tɪˈɡɹeɪ.ʃən/ | The act or process of making whole or entire. |
| membership noun | The state of being a member of a group or organization. | |
| worker noun | /ˈwɝ.kɚ/ | One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor. |
| agriculture noun | /ˈæɡ.ɹɪˌkʌl.t͡ʃɚ/ | The art or science of cultivating the ground, including the growing and harvesting of crops, and the rearing and management of livestock. |
| treaty noun | /ˈtɹiti/ | A formal binding agreement concluded by subjects of international law, namely, states and international organizations; a convention, a pact. |
| farmer noun | /ˈfɑɹ.mɚ/ | A person who works the land and/or who keeps livestock; anyone engaged in agriculture on a farm. |
| inform verb | /ɪnˈfɔɹm/ | To communicate knowledge to. |
| adjust verb | /əˈd͡ʒʌst/ | To modify. |
| sincere adjective | /sɪnˈsɪɹ/ | Genuine, honest, and free from pretense or deceit; heartfelt. |
| gradual adjective | /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəl/ | Proceeding or advancing by small, slow, regular steps or degrees |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cross out verb | To strike out (something); to draw a line through (something). |
| get together verb | To meet, to gather together, to congregate. |
| have over verb | To host (a visiting guest) at one's house. |
| move forward verb | To cause to make progress. |
| move together verb | for two climbers to attach themselves to the same rope and ascend at the same time without setting up belays. |
| step forward verb | to take one or more steps forward, especially in response to a request for identification |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being allowed · has been mentioned · are not allowed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've actually talked · has proposed · has been mentioned |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | prosperity which is · council, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 21 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, they're, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/, cooperation /koʊˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, integration /ˌɪn.tɪˈɡɹeɪ.ʃən/, commissioner /kəˈmɪ.ʃə.nəɹ/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/
- Long words — get the stress right: cooperation /koʊˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, integration /ˌɪn.tɪˈɡɹeɪ.ʃən/, agriculture /ˈæɡ.ɹɪˌkʌl.t͡ʃɚ/, commissioner /kəˈmɪ.ʃə.nəɹ/, participate /pɑːˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like veto, proposal, transition.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.