Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
both within and outside the new borders of the
European supra-national body adjust to, and
take shape from, new regulatory frameworks
(Coles and Hall, 2004).
●
there were critical strategic defence and
security issues in relation to the accession
states' borders with the Balkans, Ukraine,
Belarus, Moldova and Russia, being faced
at a time when the relative equilibrium of
the Cold War had given way to global
strategic uncertainties and instabilities. Not
least, during the 1990s, a wave of national-
ism, especially in the Balkans, appeared
to threaten the security of the continent
(Williams and Balá
y
, 2000).
The accession procedure for an applicant
country can be long and complicated, involving
a sequence of several steps (Box 1.1).
Thus for the 2004 enlargement, ten
CEE countries submitted applications to the
EU during the period 1988-1997: Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia (which divided in 1991 into the
Accession
To be successful in their accession bids, EU
applicant countries need to meet criteria as
specified within three broad categories.
●
political - institutions must be in place to
guarantee democratic practice, rule of law,
and respect for minorities;
●
economic - a functioning market economy
must exist and must be able to withstand
the competitive pressure of the Union;
●
administrative capacity - instruments must
be in place to transpose and implement
Community legislation.
These categories are usually referred to as the
'Copenhagen criteria' after the 1993 European
Council meeting held there. They are supple-
mented by several other important consider-
ations, such as: state of the environment; ability
to achieve monetary union, fight corruption
and assure human rights; provide for common
defence; and generally assume other obliga-
tions of membership.
Despite superficial parallels with earlier
enlargements, negotiations for the 2004 acces-
sions took place under very different conditions:
Box 1.1.
The accession sequence.
1.
The applicant country opens diplomatic
relations with the EU, signs certain trade and
cooperation agreements, and develops a
Europe Agreement.
2.
Once this Agreement has come into force,
the country can formally apply for membership.
3.
This requires the submission of a lengthy
document to be considered by the European
Commission.
4.
On the basis of this the Commission
prepares an Opinion, or acquis, on the
suitability of the applicant's characteristics in
relation to the stated criteria. This is then
issued to the European Council.
5.
The Commission conducts regular
meetings with the applicant country and
regular reports on progress toward accession
are published.
6.
When most of the criteria have been met
or seem likely to be met in the near future,
formal accession negotiations begin.
7.
At the successful conclusion of these the
applicant country is invited to become a
member state of the EU.
8.
The last step in the process is to hold a
referendum in the country on the question of
joining the European Union. If a majority of the
voting population affirm, the country has met
the full criteria for accession.
the economic challenge of transition was far
greater in CEE than it had been for Portugal,
Spain and Greece, which had functioning, if
deformed, market economies;
●
the recent history of democracy was argu-
ably weaker in most of CEE than had been
the case in Iberia and Greece;
●
the deepening of integration in the 1980s
and 1990s meant that greater adjustments
were now required of new members, espe-
cially with respect to the single market
and EMU;
●
globalization, international competition
and the growth of structural unemploy-
ment meant that the 2004 enlargement
was approached ultimately by the exist-
ing member states in a less 'benevolent'
way; and
●
Sources:
European Commission, 1998a,
1998b; Danta and Hall, 2000.
