Accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia
The EU opened accession negotiations with Turkey and with Croatia on 3 October 2005 (separate, successive accession conferences at foreign minister level). The negotiations are being conducted in an Intergovernmental Conference involving all EU member states and the respective candidate state, and decisions will be taken unanimously. The negotiations are based on a new approach reflecting experience with the eastern enlargement of the EU.
The central new element is that the implementation of necessary adaptations to comply with the acquis and monitoring of such implementation will take place before the conclusion of the negotiations. In practice this is done by laying down and reviewing benchmarks for the closure and, where appropriate, for the opening of each of the 35 negotiating chapters. This is intended to ensure that the new member states do in fact fulfil their contractual obligations immediately upon accession or immediately after the end of any agreed transitional periods.
Screening process
Prior to the commencement of accession negotiations, the European Commission undertakes so-called "screenings". This process involves a comparison of European law (acquis communautaire) with the laws of the respective candidate state. The idea is to identify possible problems with the implementation of the acquis and to determine the need for possible transitional periods and solutions. The Commission conducted separate screenings for Croatia and Turkey. Both screenings have already been completed.
Screening Turkey and Croatia
Outlook for the accession negotiations
The negotiations with Turkey and Croatia are completely separate, there are no links between the two (hence the separate, successive accession conferences). The shared objective of the negotiations with both candidate states is accession. These negotiations are an open-ended process, the outcome of which cannot be guaranteed beforehand.
Principles for accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia
The basis for the accession negotiations is a Negotiating Framework adopted by the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) for Turkey on 3 October 2005 and for Croatia on 16 March 2005. A new approach reflects experience with the EU's eastern enlargement, which entered into force on 1 May 2004. The European Council adopted this new approach in December 2004, outlining the following key points for negotiations with Turkey and Croatia:
- Division of the topics for negotiation into chapters: the Council, acting by unanimity on a proposal by the European Commission, will lay down benchmarks for the provisional closure and, where appropriate, for the opening of each chapter.
- Possibility of long transitional periods, derogations, specific arrangements or permanent safeguard clauses for the fields of freedom of movement, structural policy and agricultural policy.
- The shared objective of the negotiations is accession. These negotiations are an open-ended process, the outcome of which cannot be guaranteed beforehand.
- Inclusion of a suspension clause (for the possible suspension of negotiations) in the event of a serious and persistent breach of the values on which the EU is based: liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. The European Council will decide by qualified majority, after hearing the candidate state, on the recommendation of the European Commission, acting either on its own initiative or at the request of one-third of EU member states, both about the suspension and about the resumption of negotiations.
- An intensive political and cultural dialogue runs parallel to the negotiations on accession.
- Inclusion of an absorption clause which, with reference to the Copenhagen European Council of June 1993 and point 5 of the European Council of 16/17 December 2004, stipulates that the EU's "absorption capacity" (a term subsequently replaced by "capacity for integration") is an important criterion. The European Commission is to monitor the EU's capacity for integration during the negotiations.
- The determining factors for the continuation of negotiations are progress on the fulfilment of the Copenhagen Criteria (political and economic criteria) and the candidate state's ability to implement the acquis.
- The negotiations are being conducted in an Intergovernmental Conference involving all EU member states and the respective candidate state, and all decisions are unanimous. The negotiations with Turkey and Croatia are completely separate, there are no links between the two (hence the separate, successive accession conferences).
There are a number of special stipulations for Turkey. As well as having to fulfil the Copenhagen Criteria and the acquis, Turkey also has to show that it has made progress in Turkish-Greek relations, on the resolution of the Cyprus problem and on the fulfilment of its obligations under the 1963 EEC/Turkey Association Agreement and its Additional Protocol and the EC/Turkey Customs Union of 1995. In addition, given the considerable costs to be expected, the accession negotiations cannot be concluded until agreement has been reached on the Financial Framework for the period from 2014. A so-called inclusion clause was inserted: if Turkey is not in a position to assume in full all the obligations of membership it must be ensured that Turkey is fully anchored in the European structures through the strongest possible bond. The political and cultural dialogue which runs parallel to the accession negotiations is thus intended to win the support of Europe's citizens for the process of enlargement.
In Croatia's case, not only must the main two conditions be fulfilled, but also progress must be made in the stabilization and association process, and this includes full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Deficits in this latter may mean that the suspension clause becomes operative.
In December 2004 the European Council asked the Commission to continue to monitor progress closely and to report regularly to the Council. The latest progress reports can be accessed here:
Last updated 07.04.2009