Enlargement

Enlargement

Summary of Enlargement

The expansion of the European Communities (read this and related legal terms for further details) through the admission of new member states.

(Main Author: William J. Miller)

Enlargement and the Treaties of the European Union

Description of Enlargement provided by the European Union Commission: Enlargement refers to the process of accession to the European Community, later known as the European Union. The original Europe of Six (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) has expanded in the following order into a Europe of 27:

• 1973: Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom;

• 1981: Greece;

• 1986: Spain and Portugal;

• 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden;

• 2004: Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia;

• 2007: Bulgaria and Romania.

There are four candidate countries which have applied to join the Union:

• Croatia: has been a candidate country for EU membership since June 2004. It was the second country to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU on 29 October 2001. This agreement entered into force on 1 February 2005. On 3 October 2005 the Council decided to open accession negotiations with Croatia. On 12 February 2008 the Council adopted the new Accession Partnership for the country. The status in the accession negotiations is that there are 20 provisionally closed chapters and negotiations have been opened in 33 chapters.

• Iceland: Iceland submitted its application for EU membership to the Council in July 2009. At the end of July, the Council asked the European Commission to prepare an opinion on Iceland’s application.

The Commission’s opinion, adopted on 24 February 2010, covers all aspects of the accession criteria; political, economic and relating to Iceland’s capacity to implement EU law, building on the December 2006 European Council conclusions on a renewed consensus for EU enlargement based on rigorous but fair conditionality and the ‘own merits’ principle.

Based on an assessment of the country’s readiness to meet the requirements of EU membership, in its opinion, the Commission recommended opening of accession negotiations with Iceland to the Council of the European Union. On 17 June 2010 the European Council decided to open negotiations with Iceland.

• The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was granted candidate country status for EU membership in 2005. On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted the Accession Partnership for the country, thus updating the previous European Partnership of January 2006. A visa facilitation agreement and readmission agreement with the EU has been in force since 1 January 2008. On 15 July the European Commission proposed to grant visa liberalisation to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

• Turkey: Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership following the Helsinki European Council of December 1999. Accession negotiations started in October 2005 with the analytical examination of the EU legislation (the so-called screening process). Since then the EU closed provisionally one chapter: Science and Research (June 2006). In addition the EU opened negotiations on eight chapters: Enterprise and Industry (March 2007) and Financial Control and Statistics (June 2007), Trans-European Networks and Consumer and health protection (December 2007), Intellectual property and Company law (June 2008), Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy (June 2010). On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted a revised Accession Partnership with Turkey.

Enlargement and Europe

There is an entry on enlargement in the European legal encyclopedia.

Resources

See Also

Further Reading

  • Entry “Enlargement” in the work “A Concise Encyclopedia of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein”, by Rodney Leach (Profile Books; London)

Resources

See Also

Popular Treaties Topics

  • Treaties of the United Nations (UN)
  • Types of Treaties
  • International Treaties
  • Famous Treaties
  • Law of Treaties
  • Numbered Treaties

Enlargement and the Treaties of the European Union

Description of Enlargement provided by the European Union Commission: Enlargement refers to the process of accession to the European Community, later known as the European Union. The original Europe of Six (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) has expanded in the following order into a Europe of 27:

• 1973: Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom;

• 1981: Greece;

• 1986: Spain and Portugal;

• 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden;

• 2004: Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia;

• 2007: Bulgaria and Romania.

There are four candidate countries which have applied to join the Union:

• Croatia: has been a candidate country for EU membership since June 2004. It was the second country to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU on 29 October 2001. This agreement entered into force on 1 February 2005. On 3 October 2005 the Council decided to open accession negotiations with Croatia. On 12 February 2008 the Council adopted the new Accession Partnership for the country. The status in the accession negotiations is that there are 20 provisionally closed chapters and negotiations have been opened in 33 chapters.

• Iceland: Iceland submitted its application for EU membership to the Council in July 2009. At the end of July, the Council asked the European Commission to prepare an opinion on Iceland’s application.

The Commission’s opinion, adopted on 24 February 2010, covers all aspects of the accession criteria; political, economic and relating to Iceland’s capacity to implement EU law, building on the December 2006 European Council conclusions on a renewed consensus for EU enlargement based on rigorous but fair conditionality and the ‘own merits’ principle.

Based on an assessment of the country’s readiness to meet the requirements of EU membership, in its opinion, the Commission recommended opening of accession negotiations with Iceland to the Council of the European Union. On 17 June 2010 the European Council decided to open negotiations with Iceland.

• The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was granted candidate country status for EU membership in 2005. On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted the Accession Partnership for the country, thus updating the previous European Partnership of January 2006. A visa facilitation agreement and readmission agreement with the EU has been in force since 1 January 2008. On 15 July the European Commission proposed to grant visa liberalisation to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

• Turkey: Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership following the Helsinki European Council of December 1999. Accession negotiations started in October 2005 with the analytical examination of the EU legislation (the so-called screening process). Since then the EU closed provisionally one chapter: Science and Research (June 2006). In addition the EU opened negotiations on eight chapters: Enterprise and Industry (March 2007) and Financial Control and Statistics (June 2007), Trans-European Networks and Consumer and health protection (December 2007), Intellectual property and Company law (June 2008), Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy (June 2010). On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted a revised Accession Partnership with Turkey.

Resources

See Also

Popular Treaties Topics

  • Treaties of the United Nations (UN)
  • Types of Treaties
  • International Treaties
  • Famous Treaties
  • Law of Treaties
  • Numbered Treaties

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