About: accession countries

Albania justice minister: Next six months will be crucial for our EU bid

The member states are expected to vote next week on whether to open accession talks with Albania, as the Commission has recommended. The Balkan country has made progress in improving the rule of law but its EU prospects remain vague as several EU capitals have called for caution in planning the bloc's next enlargement.

New Macedonia leaders vow to revive EU/NATO bid

Macedonia's new leaders showed fresh resolve to revive the country's stalled bid for membership of the EU and NATO on Monday (June 12) by vowing to mend relations with estranged EU neighbours Greece and Bulgaria and implement long-delayed reforms.

Serbia-Croatia relations strained by the past

Relations between Belgrade and Zagreb are stuck. Frequently in crisis mode, their ties are beset by sharp rhetoric, especially during election periods, say Serbian and Croatian political analysts. Euractiv Serbia reports.

Macedonia’s feeble flame of aspiration

Are European policy-makers crushing hopes of progress in Macedonia by putting enlargement on the back burner, Richard Howitt wonders. 

Hahn: Enlargement stalemate will not slow accession negotiations

Even without further EU enlargement over the next five years, accession prospects drive long overdue structural reforms and promote democratisation, says EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, whose personal goal is to help resolve the “conflict of language” between Greece and Macedonia. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Unveiled: Energy Corruption in the Balkans

From Croatia to Montenegro, shady energy deals plague the region’s economy, according to a report to be published today (24 June) during the European Commission's Sustainable Energy Week.

October comes again: Western Balkans’ chance to join the EU

As the Commission prepares its October progress reports, the prospect of European accession has taken on quasi-religious status in the Western Balkans: it offers hope but, in some cases, sounds mildly utopian. This is a good time to speed up the pace and put words into action for the Balkans' accession, Shenoll Muharremi writes.

Georgian minister: EU remains priority despite ‘Russian rapprochement’

Tamar Beruchachvili, Georgia's deputy state minister of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, told EURACTIV that the country’s new policy towards Russia “would certainly not jeopardise relations with the EU”.

Turkey: EU political benchmarks ‘were never given to us’

EXCLUSIVE / The European Union has never sent Turkey the required benchmarks to reform its justice system, making the country's EU accession process impossible to complete, according to a high-level official in Ankara who spoke to EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

Montenegro hopes to start accession talks ‘soon’

Montenegro expects to gain European Union candidate status in November and to start accession talks soon, its prime minister said on 8 October. The European Commission is set to present its opinion on Montenegro's readiness to acquire candidate status next month.

Europeans confused about Turkey accession

A new survey reveals that 47% of Europeans back Turkey's EU accession and 47% are opposed to it. But when the same respondents were asked how would they vote in a referendum on Turkey's membership, 52% say that they would vote against it and only 41% in favour.

2012 ‘realistic deadline’ for Croatia’s EU entry

In Croatia there is a "significant gap" between the political elite, which is "resolutely turned towards EU integration", and public opinion, which is "still lukewarm on the issue," according to Jacques Rupnik, a researcher at Sciences Po in Paris. The Balkan specialist spoke to EURACTIV France in an interview.

Croatia hopes to join EU ‘in 2012’

Despite calls for it to join earlier, realistically Croatia's EU accession in 2012 would still represent a great success, Mirko Galic, Croatia's ambassador to France, told EURACTIV France in an exclusive interview.

The Unfinished Business of the Fifth Enlargement Countries

"Five years (or two and a half, in the case of Bulgaria and Romania) following accession, EU membership for the ten central and eastern European states […] has not marked the end of the process of transition of those countries," writes Assya Kavrakova in a recent report for the European Policies Initiative (EuPI).

Time to start a balanced debate on Turkish EU membership

"It is high time to conduct a reasoned debate about the costs and benefits of Turkish EU accession," argues Markus Jäger of Deutsche Bank Research.

Corruption hurts Turkey most

"The fact that Turkey lags so far behind when it comes to the fight against bribery and corruption seriously lowers Turkey's status before the EU," argues Zeynep Gögus, the president of Brussels-based NGO TR Plus Centre for Turkey in Europe and EURACTIV Turkey's publisher, in an interview with Today’s Zaman, a Turkey-based English daily.

Europe and the Balkans: What’s to be done?

The EU must "show that it can act decisively and effectively" in the Western Balkans as the progress the bloc makes in the region tests its "credibility on the international scene," writes Graham Avery for the European Policy Centre. What's more, he calls on all countries in the region to apply for EU membership "sooner rather than later" and on the bloc "to reaffirm its membership promise" to them.

EU to ‘wait and see’ on Serbia, Turkey accession

European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said he was adopting a "wait-and-see" attitude towards EU hopefuls Serbia and Turkey in light of recent developments in the two countries.

2008 to be ‘EU year’ in Turkey, says foreign minister

2008 will be the 'year of the EU' in Turkey, said the country's foreign minister and chief negotiator on EU accession, Ali Babacan, responding to recent criticism over perceived interruptions to the country's progress towards full EU membership. EURACTIV Turkey reports.

Winning back confidence in EU-Turkey relations

Growing scepticism about the EU is spreading through Turkish society, writes Zeynep Gögü?, publisher of EURACTIV Turkey in the following commentary.

EU lawmakers call on Turkey to accelerate reforms

In a draft resolution widely regarded as the forerunner of the Commission's upcoming progress report on Turkey, MEPs yesterday welcomed the Turkish government's renewed commitment to reform following recent elections, but said that it still had "a lot of homework to do".

What Europeans think about Turkey and why

For many politicians, journalists and think-tanks, the benefits of Turkish accession to the EU are "plain to see", writes Katinka Barysch in an August 2007 paper for the Centre for European Reform (CER).

Sarkozy softens opposition to Turkey’s EU membership

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has softened his stance towards Turkey, saying that he would not block negotiations between Ankara and the European Union, despite his long opposition to the country's accession.

EU business ‘convinced’ of Turkey’s accession

Europe's entrepreneurs are convinced of the merits of Turkish accession to the EU even though EU politicians and voters are not, observe Katinka Barysch and Rainer Hermann in a June 2007 essay for the Centre for European Reform (CER).