Next wave of enlargement [fr]

The EU will continue enlarging after the current wave, which will add 10 Member States on 1 May 2004. Bulgaria and Romania could join the EU in 2007 if they fulfil all the membership criteria. Turkey's candidature will be reviewed at the end of 2004, and Ankara will be able to start accession negotiations with the EU if it fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria. Croatia formally applied for for membership in the EU on 20 February 2003, and the Council asked the Commission on 14 April 2003 to submit its opinion on this application. In its second annual Stabilisation and Association Process report, released on 26 March 2003, the Commission said that the enlargement process would extend to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia-Montenegro after the planned accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007.

Milestones

• Bulgaria and Romania could join the EU in 2007 at the earliest;
• The European Council will review Turkey's progress in December 2004 with the view of opening negotiations with Ankara;
• The Commission is expected to present its opinion on Croatia to the Council in 2004 as a first step in the membership application procedure, laid down in Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union.

 

Policy Summary

The European Union is determined to continue enlarging after the current enlargement to 10 new Member States, which are due to become members of the Union on 1 May 2004. Bulgaria and Romania hope to join by 2007, while Turkey expects to be invited to the negotiation table in December 2004, when its membership application is due for review by the European Council. Croatia has also joined the list of applicants on 20 February 2003, and several more European countries are expected to follow.

All candidate countries must fulfil the so-called Copenhagen criteria, adopted in 1993, before they can join the EU. These are:

• stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities;
• functioning market economy;
• adoption the common rules, standards and policies that make up the body of EU law.

Candidate countries can only start accession negotiations with the EU once they meet the political criteria. The European Council of Copenhagen decided in December 2003 that the EU will open accession negotiations with Turkey without delay if the European Council in December 2004, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the Commission, decides that Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria.

 

Issues

The Copenhagen European Council of 12 and 13 December 2002 declared that, depending on further progress in complying with the membership criteria, the objective is to welcome Bulgaria and Romania as members of the European Union in 2007. The EU leaders confirmed that accession negotiations with these countries will continue on the basis of the same principles that have guided the accession negotiations so far, and that each candidate country will be judged on its own merits.

On 26 March 2003, the Commission prepared new "roadmaps" to assist Bulgaria nad Romania with their preparations for EU membership. Both countries were told by the Commission to carry on with reforming their public administration and judicial systems and to pursue economic reform. The other key objectives of the roadmaps include institutional reform, fight against corruption, human rights improvements and economic issues relating to privatisation, the free movement of goods, transport and agriculture.

At the same time, the Commission proposed a considerable and progressive increase in financial assistance for Bulgaria and Romania from the date of the first round of accessions. This increase will amount to an additional 20 percent in 2004, 30 percent in 2005 and 40 percent in 2006 compared to the average assistance received by the two countries in the period 2001-2003. Additional assistance will be conditional on making progress in line with the roadmaps and on improving significantly capacity to manage and use funds effectively.

Bulgaria and Romania already participate in a number of Community committees and agencies. After the signature of the Accession Treaty with the 10 acceeding countries on 16 April 2003, Bulgaria and Romania will be given the possibility to further participate, wherever legally possible, as observers in all committees set up by the comitology procedure and all other committees. They will also be able to participate at least as observers in the relevant structures of all Community agencies. Furthermore, Bulgaria and Romania will participate in the next Intergovernmental Conference as observers.

The Commission will continue to issue Regular Reports, until Bulgaria and Romania have fulfilled the criteria for accession. Future Regular Reports will include an assessment of the implementation of the roadmaps.

The Copenhagen European Council of 12 and 13 December 2002 welcomed the steps taken by Turkey towards meeting the Copenhagen criteria, in particular through the recent legislative packages and the subsequent implementation measures which cover a large number of key priorities specified in the Accession Partnership. However, the EU leaders also noted that the new Turkish government has to take further steps on the path of reform, in particular in the field of the political criteria, not only with regard to legislation but also in particular with regard to implementation.  

On 26 March 2003, the European Commission proposed a revised Accession Partnership for Turkey, which sets out the priority areas for further work as identified in the Commission's 2002 Regular Report on Turkey. Among the main objectives are the fight against torture, the alignment with the European Court of Human Rights judgements and the respect of fundamental freedoms (expression, association, religion).

At the same time, the Commission adopted a communication on the strengthening of the Accession Strategy for Turkey. This includes a substantial increase of financial assistance for the period 2004-2006. Pre-accession financial assistance should reach 250 million euro in 2004, 300 million euro in 2005 and 500 million euro in 2006. Financial assistance will be linked to the priorities set out in the Accession Partnership.

On 26 March 2003, the Commission also adopted its second annual report on the Stabilisation and Association Process for the countries of South East Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro. The report reiterates the prospect for the Western Balkan countries of an even closer relationship with the European Union and ultimately membership.

The second annual report shows that South East Europe continues to make progress in the reforms which will pave the way for closer integration with Europe. It also identifies the main challenges facing the region, such as weaknesses in the functioning of democratic institutions and institutional capacity building, rule of law and full respect of human and minorities rights, the fight against organised crime and corruption, reform of the judiciary, continuing sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons, inequality in income distribution, widespread poverty and high unemployment, structural reforms towards fully functioning market economies and heavy dependence on foreign financing.

 

Positions

The Commission expressed its regret over the failure of UN efforts to solve the Cyprus problem on 12 March 2003. Commission officials said that unless the two sides of the island agreed to reunite by May 2004, it would be difficult to imagine starting negotiations to admit Turkey into the EU. Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey, which invaded in 1974 after a failed coup to merge the island with Greece.

Negomonitor