97-567: The largest enlargement of the European Union (EU), in terms of number of states and population, took place on 1 May 2004. The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries (sometimes referred to as the "A10" countries): Cyprus , the Czech Republic , Estonia , Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , Malta , Poland , Slovakia , and Slovenia . Seven of these were part of the former Eastern Bloc (of which three were from
194-522: A common foreign and security policy would be incompatible with that. With the end of the Cold War in 1989, that obstacle was removed, and the desire to pursue membership grew stronger. On 3 October 1990, the reunification of East and West Germany brought East Germany into the Community without increasing the number of member states. The Community later became the European Union in 1993 by virtue of
291-407: A privileged partnership for Turkey, membership for which has faced considerable opposition on cultural and logistical grounds. Notes: The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was proposed by Robert Schuman in his declaration on 9 May 1950 and involved the pooling of the coal and steel industries of France and West Germany . Half of the project states, Belgium , Luxembourg , and
388-466: A decade, although some countries, notably Sweden, Finland, and Austria have been faster, taking only a few years. The process from application for association agreement through accession has taken far longer, as much as several decades (Turkey, for example, first applied for association in the 1950s and has yet to conclude accession negotiations). On 18 October 2019, France vetoed starting of negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, citing problems with
485-689: A flag-raising ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin , the Irish presidential residence. At the same time, citizens across Ireland enjoyed a nationwide celebration styled as the Day of Welcomes . President Romano Prodi took part in celebrations on the Italian-Slovenian border at the divided town of Gorizia / Nova Gorica , at the German-Polish border, the EU flag was raised and Ode to Joy was sung and there
582-545: A new voting system based on the Nice system entered into force. The voting weights of the member states according to that voting system are shown in the table on the right. The voting system was replaced by the Treaty of Lisbon, effective 1 November 2014. The following conditions applied to taking decisions: The last condition was only checked upon request by a member state. In the absence of consensus, qualified majority voting
679-398: A non-binding referendum on 8 March 2003 ; the narrow Yes-vote prompted a snap election on 12 April 2003 fought on the same question and after which the pro-EU Nationalist Party retained its majority and declared a mandate for accession. Poland held a referendum on 7 and 8 June 2003 : Voting Yes by a wide margin of about 77.5% with a turnout of around 59% The Treaty of Accession 2003
776-504: A particular reason for grouping the A8 countries was an expectation that they would be the origin for a new wave of increased migration to wealthier European countries. They initially proved to be the origin of a new wave of migration, with many citizens moving from these countries to other states within the EU, later giving a way to newer EU members, like Romania, Bulgaria, and increasing migration from
873-469: A qualifying majority of 258 votes (74.78%) after enlargement to 27 countries. However, the treaties of accession following the Treaty of Nice clarified the required majority. After the accession of Croatia, on 1 July 2013, at least 260 votes out of a total of 352 by at least 15 member states were required for legislation to be adopted by qualified majority. Croatia had 7 votes (the same as Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland). From 1 July 2013,
970-559: A single market by 1992. The effect of this was that EFTA states found it harder to export to the EEC and businesses (including large EFTA corporations such as Volvo ) wished to relocate within the new single market making the downturn worse for EFTA. EFTA states began to discuss closer links with the EEC despite its domestic unpopularity. Austria , Finland , and Sweden were neutral in the Cold War so membership of an organisation developing
1067-400: A territory voted to leave the Community , when Greenland was granted home rule by Denmark and the territory used its new powers and voted to withdraw from the Community (see member state territories ). Morocco and Turkey applied for membership in 1987. Morocco's application was turned down as it was not considered European; Turkey's application was considered eligible on the basis of
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#17327905075141164-576: A whole. As part of the deal for British entry, France agreed to allow the EEC its own monetary resources. However France made that concession only as Britain's small agriculture sector would ensure that Britain would be a net contributor to the Common Agricultural Policy dominated EEC budget . Applying together with the UK, as on the previous occasions, were Denmark , Ireland, and Norway . These countries were so economically linked to
1261-582: Is not recognised by the EU, the entire island excluding the British overseas territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia is a member of the EU as part of the Republic of Cyprus, though the de facto situation is that the Government is unable to extend its controls into the occupied areas. Efforts to reunite the island continue as of 2022. European Union membership forced the country to suspend its membership in
1358-594: Is said to be closed when both sides have agreed it has been implemented sufficiently, however it can still be re-opened if the Commission feels that the candidate has fallen out of compliance. To assess progress achieved by countries in preparing for accession to the European Union, the European Commission submits regular reports (yearly) to the European Council . These serve as a basis for
1455-513: Is sufficient common ground to have constructive negotiations. Negotiations are typically a matter of the candidate country convincing the EU that its laws and administrative capacity are sufficient to execute European law, which can be implemented as seen fit by the member states. Often this will involve time-lines before the Acquis Communautaire (European regulations, directives and standards) has to be fully implemented. A chapter
1552-564: The A8 , sometimes also referred to as the EU8 . They are grouped separately from the other two states that joined Union in 2004, i.e. Cyprus and Malta , because of their relatively similar ex-Eastern block background, per capita income level, Human Development Index level, and most of all the geographical location in mainland Europe , where the two other states from aforementioned 2004 batch are Mediterranean isles. These countries are: According to BBC
1649-459: The Council will need to unanimously agree to start Kosovo's accession process by requesting an opinion from the European Commission on its application. The EU however remains divided on its policy towards Kosovo, with five EU member states not recognising its independence . According to the EU treaties , membership of the European Union is open to "any European State which respects
1746-472: The Franco-German engine behind the EU, as its relatively newer members, Poland and Sweden, set the policy agenda, for example Eastern Partnership . Despite fears of paralysis, the decision-making process had not been hampered by the new membership and if anything the legislative output of the institutions had increased, however justice and home affairs (which operates by unanimity) had suffered. In 2009
1843-630: The Maastricht Treaty , and established standards for new entrants so their suitability could be judged. The Copenhagen criteria stated in 1993 that a country must be a democracy, operate a free market , and be willing to adopt the entire body of EU law already agreed upon. Also in 1993 the European Economic Area was established with the EFTA states except Switzerland . Most of the new EEA states pursued full EU membership as
1940-573: The Maastricht Treaty , each current member state and the European Parliament must agree to any enlargement. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration . This term is also used to refer to the intensification of co-operation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual harmonisation of national laws. The EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community ,
2037-644: The Netherlands , had already achieved a great degree of integration amongst themselves with the organs of Benelux and earlier bilateral agreements. These five countries were joined by Italy and they all signed the Treaty of Paris on 23 July 1952. These six members, dubbed the ' Inner Six ' (as opposed to the ' outer seven ' who formed the European Free Trade Association who were suspicious of such plans for integration) went on to sign
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#17327905075142134-557: The Treaties of Rome establishing two further communities, together known as the European Communities when they merged their executives in 1967. In 1962, Spain, ruled by the military dictator Francisco Franco , issued its first attempt to join the European Communities . Spanish Foreign Affairs minister Fernando María Castiella sent the request form to French Prime Minister Maurice Couve de Murville . This request
2231-546: The Treaty on European Union , as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon , stipulates that the Council voting arrangements of the Nice Treaty applied until 31 October 2014. Article 16 also states the conditions for a qualified majority , effective since 1 November 2014: A blocking minority requires—in addition to not meeting one of the two conditions above—that at least 4 countries (or, if not all countries participate in
2328-454: The rule of law , human rights, respect for and protection of minorities , the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. Membership presupposes the candidate's ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union. In December 1995,
2425-402: The "new" Member States were recruited after the enlargement, these new conditions affected all of them (although they also affect nationals of the former 15 Member States who have been recruited after 1 May 2004). Before the 2004 enlargement, the EU had twelve treaty languages: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. However, due to
2522-472: The 1963 Ankara Association Agreement but the opinion of the Commission on the possible candidate status was by then negative. Turkey received candidate status in 1999 and began full membership negotiations in 2005, which were still in progress as of 2021. After the 1970s, Europe experienced an economic downturn which led to leaders launching of the Single European Act which set to create
2619-462: The 2004 enlargement, nine new official languages were added: Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Hungarian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Maltese. A 2021 study in the Journal of Political Economy found that the 2004 enlargement had aggregate beneficial economic effects on all groups in both the old and new member states. The largest winners were the new member states, in particular unskilled labor in
2716-500: The 21 other members. Note that the Commission could make a proposal in a way that removed the requirement for a qualified majority. For example, the Anti-Dumping Advisory Committee (ADAC) could approve a proposal to impose tariffs based on a simple, unweighted majority, but overturning it would have required a qualified majority because this meant voting against a Commission proposal. This greatly increased
2813-652: The Commission nor the High Representative , effective since 1 November 2014: In practice, the Council targeted unanimous decisions, and qualified majority voting was often simply used as a means to pressure compromises for consensus. For example, in 2008, 128 out of 147 Council decisions were unanimous. Within the remaining decisions, there was a total of 32 abstentions and 8 votes against the respective decision. These opposing votes were cast twice by Luxembourg and once by each of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Netherlands, and Portugal. The Council, jointly with
2910-567: The Commission saw the enlargement as a success, but thought that until the enlargement was fully accepted by the public future enlargements would be slow in coming. In 2012 data published by the Guardian showed that that process is complete. The internal impact has also been relevant. The arrival of additional members has put an additional stress on the governance of the Institutions, and increased significantly overheads (for example, through
3007-493: The Copenhagen criteria, comes the further requirement that all prospective members must enact legislation to bring their laws into line with the body of European law built up over the history of the Union, known as the acquis communautaire . Today the accession process follows a series of formal steps, from a pre-accession agreement to the ratification of the final accession treaty. These steps are primarily presided over by
2004 enlargement of the European Union - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-402: The Council as defined in the Treaty of Nice was supposed to enter into force on 1 January 2005. However, the voting system was changed before that date by the Treaty of Accession 2003 , which entered into force on 1 May 2004. During a temporary period that extended to 1 November 2004, the old pre-Nice voting system was kept, but adapted to the new number of member states. From 1 November 2004,
3201-616: The Council now required for their adoption: The votes allocated previously to the EU-9 did not change. Greece was allocated 5 votes. Article 148 of the EEC Treaty, specifying the qualified majority voting system of the Council, was amended by Article 14 of the Accession Treaty regulating the enlargement of the community by Portugal and Spain. Acts of the Council now required for their adoption: The votes allocated previously to
3298-416: The Council of the European Union are described in the treaties of the European Union . The Council of the European Union (or simply "Council" or "Council of Ministers") has had its voting procedure amended by subsequent treaties and currently operates on the system set forth in the Treaty of Lisbon . The system is known as qualified majority voting is a type of consociational democracy . Article 16 of
3395-452: The Council required for their adoption: The values above are related to the EU-6, the founding member states. The treaty allocated the votes as follows: Under this system, Luxembourg had no voting power for acts proposed by the Commission. Article 148 of the EEC Treaty, specifying the qualified majority voting system of the Council, was amended by Article 8 of the Accession Treaty regulating
3492-508: The EC Treaty, specifying the qualified majority voting system of the Council, was amended by Article 8 of the Accession Treaty regulating the enlargement of the community by Austria, Finland, and Sweden. Acts of the Council now required for their adoption: The votes allocated previously to the EU-12 did not change. To the new members, the following votes were allocated: The voting system of
3589-486: The EEA did not sufficiently satisfy the needs of their export based corporations. The EU has also preferred these states to integrate via the EEA rather than full membership as the EEC wished to pursue monetary integration and did not wish for another round of enlargement to occupy their attention. However, with the EEA's credibility dented following rejection by businesses and Switzerland, the EU agreed with full membership. This
3686-412: The EEC. Equally, the EEC was unsure about which way these countries were heading and wanted to ensure stability along its southern borders. However François Mitterrand initially opposed their membership fearing they were not ready and it would water the community down to a free trade area. Greece joined the EEC in 1981 followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986. The year 1985, however, saw the first time
3783-597: The EU , and its predecessors, have been the exit of Algeria upon independence in 1962, the exit of Greenland in 1985, and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom in 2020. Accession negotiations are currently ongoing with Montenegro (since 2012), Serbia (since 2014), Albania (since 2020), North Macedonia (since 2020), Moldova (since 2024) and Ukraine (since 2024). Negotiations with Turkey were opened in October 2005, but have been effectively frozen by
3880-537: The EU since December 2016, due to backsliding in the areas of democracy, rule of law, and fundamental rights. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia were granted official candidate status respectively in December 2022 and December 2023, but were asked to complete additional reforms before qualifying for the formal start of membership negotiations. Kosovo submitted an application for membership in December 2022. For Kosovo to be granted official candidate status,
3977-510: The EU the same month to membership in May 2004. Ease of accession depends on the state: how integrated it is with the EU beforehand, the state of its economy and public institutions, any outstanding political issues with the EU and (historically) how much law to date the EU has built up that the acceding state must adopt. This outline also includes integration steps taken by the accession country after it attains membership. Enlargement has been one of
2004 enlargement of the European Union - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-424: The EU's successful foreign policies, yet has equally suffered from considerable opposition from the start. French President Charles de Gaulle opposed British membership. A later French President, François Mitterrand , opposed Greek, Spanish and Portuguese membership, fearing that the former dictatorships were not ready and that the countries' inclusion would reduce the union to a free-trade area. The reasons for
4171-591: The EU-10 did not change. To the new members, the following votes were allocated: The Treaty of Maastricht established the European Community Treaty (EC Treaty) where the qualified majority voting system was detailed in Article 148. While this treaty transferred some policy areas subject to unanimity to qualified majority, it neither changed the voting weights nor the thresholds. Article 148 of
4268-488: The EU. To achieve this, however, they must fulfil the appropriate conditions." Those conditions (known as the Copenhagen criteria, or simply, membership criteria) were: At the Luxembourg summit in 1997, the EU accepted the commission's opinion to invite Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus to start talks on their accession to the EU. The negotiation process started on 31 March 1998. Poland finished
4365-540: The European Commission ( Enlargement Commissioner and DG Enlargement ), but the actual negotiations are technically conducted between the Union's Member States and the candidate country. Before a country applies for membership it typically signs an association agreement to help prepare the country for candidacy and eventual membership. Most countries do not meet the criteria to even begin negotiations before they apply, so they need many years to prepare for
4462-641: The European Parliament, has policy-making, legislative and budgetary functions. The Council is composed of the ministers of member states responsible for a specific area of policy. The ministers or their representative will commit the government of the member state in questions of policy and cast the member state vote. The Lisbon Treaty specifies in Article 16 that the Council shall act by a qualified majority voting (QMV) in areas of competence with certain exceptions. Qualified majority voting now extends to policy areas that required unanimity according to
4559-656: The European Union The European Union (EU) has expanded a number of times throughout its history by way of the accession of new member states to the Union. To join the EU, a state needs to fulfil economic and political conditions called the Copenhagen criteria (named after the Copenhagen summit in June 1993), which require a stable democratic government that respects the rule of law, and its corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to
4656-528: The Madrid European Council revised the membership criteria to include conditions for member country integration through the appropriate adjustment of its administrative structures: since it is important that European Community legislation be reflected in national legislation, it is critical that the revised national legislation be implemented effectively through appropriate administrative and judicial structures. Finally, and technically outside
4753-454: The Nice Treaty. The new areas of QMV are: This section presents the former qualified majority voting systems employed in the Council of the European Union , and its predecessor institutions. While some policy areas require unanimity among Council members, for selected policy areas qualified majority voting has existed right from the start. All major treaties have shifted some policy areas from unanimity to qualified majority voting. Whenever
4850-594: The Non-Aligned Movement with Government of Cyprus insisting on maintaining close ties with the NAM. Accession of Poland to the European Union took place in May 2004. Poland had been negotiating with the EU since 1989. With the fall of communism in 1989/1990 in Poland, Poland embarked on a series of reforms and changes in foreign policy, intending to join the EU and NATO . On 19 September 1989 Poland signed
4947-438: The Republic of Cyprus with the majority being Greek-speaking Cypriots and the northern areas under Turkish military occupation (the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). The Republic of Cyprus is recognised as the sole legitimate government by every UN (and EU) member state except Turkey, while the northern occupied area is recognised only by Turkey. Cyprus began talks to join the EU, which provided impetus to solve
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#17327905075145044-542: The Soviet Union would no longer intervene in other countries' internal affairs ( Sinatra Doctrine ), practically freeing Central and Eastern Europe from Soviet occupation (Czechoslovakia and Hungary) / Soviet backed authoritarian regimes. These countries wanted to consolidate their democracies through joining Western world international organisations (including participation in European integration ) which would ensure
5141-725: The UK that they considered it necessary to join the EEC if the UK did. However the Norwegian government lost a national referendum on membership and hence did not accede with the others on 1 January 1973. Gibraltar joined the Community with the United Kingdom at this point, as can be seen in the long title of the UK European Communities Act 1972 . The next enlargement would occur for different reasons. The 1970s also saw Greece , Spain , and Portugal emerge from dictatorship. These countries desired to consolidate their new democratic systems by binding themselves into
5238-535: The accession negotiations in December 2002. Then, the Accession Treaty was signed in Athens on 16 April 2003 ( Treaty of Accession 2003 ). After the ratification of that Treaty in the 2003 Polish European Union membership referendum , Poland and other 9 countries became the members of EU on 1 May 2004. Eight of the 10 countries that joined the European Union during the 2004 enlargement are grouped together as
5335-559: The addition of its poorer 17 million people and, while keeping its monetary union project on track, it was still at that early stage pointing the EFTA countries in the direction of the EEA rather than full membership. States in Central and Eastern Europe persisted and eventually the above-mentioned issues were cleared. The US also pressured the EU to offer membership as a temporary guarantee; it feared expanding NATO too rapidly for fear of frightening Russia. Although eventually trying to limit
5432-561: The agreement for trade and trade co-operation with the (then) European Community (EC). Polish intention to join the EU was expressed by Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki in his speech in the European Parliament in February 1990 and in June 1991 by Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Krzysztof Skubiszewski in Sejm (Polish Parliament). On 19 May 1990 Poland started a procedure to begin negotiations for an association agreement and
5529-426: The chapter fs – finished screening f – frozen chapter o – open chapter x – closed chapter As of May 2011, there are no longer any special restrictions on the free movement of citizens of these new member states. With their original accession to the EU, free movement of people between all 25 states would naturally have applied. However, due to concerns of mass migration from
5626-435: The commission's opinion (The council has only once rejected the commission's opinion when the latter advised against opening negotiations with Greece). If the Council agrees to open negotiations the screening process then begins. The commission and candidate country examine its laws and those of the EU and determine what differences exist. The Council then recommends opening negotiations on "chapters" of law that it feels there
5723-466: The communist states began their transition to free market democracies , aligning to Euro-Atlantic integration , the question of enlargement into the continent was thrust onto the EEC's agenda. The Phare strategy was launched soon after to adapt more the structure of the Central and Eastern European countries ( Pays d'Europe Centrale et Orientale (PECO) ) to the European Economic Community . One of
5820-472: The community was enlarged, voting weights for new members were defined and thresholds re-adjusted by accession treaties. After its inception in 1958, the most notable changes to the voting system occurred: All systems prescribed higher thresholds for passing acts that were not proposed by the Commission . Member states have to cast their votes en bloc (i.e., a member state may not split its votes). Hence,
5917-485: The council to make decisions on negotiations or their extension to other candidates. Once the negotiations are complete, a Treaty of Accession will be signed, which must then be ratified by all of the member states of the Union, as well as the institutions of the Union, and the candidate country. Once this has been completed it will join the Union on the date specified in the treaty. The entire process, from application for membership to membership has typically taken about
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#17327905075146014-569: The current enlargement process. In November 2019, France proposed a seven-stage accession plan for membership. The reformed accession strategy proposes participation in different programs, such as Erasmus, Banking Union, Capital Markets Union, Customs Union, etc. The following is an example of the accession process—Estonia's path to membership from its restoration of independence from the Soviet Union in November 1991 with recognition from
6111-532: The dispute. With the agreement of the Annan Plan for Cyprus, it was hoped that the two communities would join the EU together as a single United Cyprus Republic . Turkish Cypriots supported the plan. However, in a referendum on 24 April 2004 the Greek Cypriots rejected the plan. Thus, a week later, the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU with political issues unresolved. Legally, as the northern republic
6208-575: The early 1970s. The United Kingdom, which had refused to join as a founding member, changed its policy following the Suez crisis and applied to be a member of the Communities. Other EEC members were also inclined to British membership on those grounds. French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed British membership. Once de Gaulle had left office, the door to enlargement was once again opened. The EEC economy had also slowed down and British membership
6305-408: The eight members had been dropped by all members except Germany and Austria. Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia became members on 1 May 2004, but some areas of cooperation in the European Union will apply to some of the EU member states at a later date. These are: Since 1974 Cyprus has been divided between the free and legitimate areas of
6402-430: The enlargement of the community by Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Acts of the Council now required for their adoption: These values were now related to the EU-9. The treaty allocated the votes as follows: Article 148 of the EEC Treaty, specifying the qualified majority voting system of the Council, was amended by Article 14 of the Accession Treaty regulating the enlargement of the community by Greece. Acts of
6499-644: The enlargement, a study showed that increases in E8 migrants in Western Europe over the last ten years had been accompanied by a more widespread acknowledgement of the economic benefits of immigration. Following the 2007 enlargement, most countries placed restrictions on the new states, including the most open in 2004 (Ireland and the United Kingdom) with only Sweden, Finland and the 2004 members (minus Malta and Hungary). But by April 2008, these restrictions on
6596-427: The fears, migration within the EU concerns less than 2% of the population. However, the migration did cause controversy in those countries which saw a noticeable influx, creating the image of a " Polish Plumber " in the EU, caricaturing the cheap manual labour from A8 countries making an imprint on the rest of the EU. The extent to which E8 immigration generated a lasting public backlash has been debated. Ten years after
6693-495: The first member states to apply, and for them to be accepted, were primarily economic while the second enlargement was more political. The southern Mediterranean countries had just emerged from dictatorships and wanted to secure their democratic systems through the EEC, while the EEC wanted to ensure the same thing and that their southern neighbours were stable and aligned to NATO. These two principal forces, economic gain and political security, have been behind enlargements since. After
6790-479: The former Soviet Union and four were and still are member states of the Central European alliance Visegrád Group ). Slovenia was a non-aligned country prior to the independence, and it was one of the former republics of Yugoslavia (together sometimes referred to as the "A8" countries), and the remaining two were Mediterranean island countries, both member states of Commonwealth of Nations . Part of
6887-591: The issue, the German government agreed to include it for discussion at the June council. The given percentage is the game theoretical optimal threshold, and is known as the " Jagiellonian Compromise ". The Penrose method voting weights allocated to the states are shown in the adjacent table. According to the proposal, the requirement for an act to pass in the Council was: Certain policy fields remain subject to unanimity in whole or in part, such as: Article 311 shall be repealed. A new Article 311a shall be inserted, with
6984-520: The large enlargements in 2004, public opinion in Europe turned against further expansion. It has also been acknowledged that enlargement has its limits; the EU cannot expand endlessly. Former Commission President Romano Prodi favoured granting "everything but institutions" to the EU's neighbour states, allowing them to co-operate deeply while not adding strain on the EU's institutional framework. This has in particular been pushed by France and Germany as
7081-823: The major tools of this strategy was the Regional Quality Assurance Program ( Programme Régional d'Assurance Qualité (PRAQ) ) which started in 1993 to help the PECO States implement the New Approach in their economy. The Acquis Communautaire contained 3,000 directives and some 100,000 pages in the Official Journal of the European Union to be transposed. It demanded a lot of administrative work and immense economic change, and raised major cultural problems – e.g. new legal concepts and language consistency problems. Malta held
7178-489: The multiplication of official languages). Furthermore, there is a division of staff, since the very same day of the enlargement was chosen to enact an in-depth reform of the Staff Regulation, which was intended to bring significant savings in administrative costs. As a result, employment conditions (career & retirement perspectives) worsened for officials recruited after that date. Since by definition officials of
7275-725: The negotiations officially began in December 1990. About a year later, on 16 December 1991 the European Union Association Agreement was signed by Poland. The Agreement came into force on 1 February 1994 (its III part on the mutual trade relations came into force earlier on 1 March 1992). As a result of diplomatic interventions by the central European states of the Visegrád Group , the European Council decided at its Copenhagen summit in June 1993 that: "the associate member states from Central and Eastern Europe , if they so wish, will become members of
7372-440: The new member states. A 2007 study in the journal Post-Soviet Affairs argued that the 2004 enlargement of the EU contributed to the consolidation of democracy in the new member states. In 2009, Freie Universität Berlin political scientist Thomas Risse wrote, "there is a consensus in the literature on Eastern Europe that the EU membership perspective had a huge anchoring effects for the new democracies." Enlargement of
7469-682: The new members to the old EU-15, some transitional restrictions were put in place. Mobility within the EU-15 (plus Cyprus) and within the new states (minus Cyprus) functioned as normal (although the new states had the right to impose restrictions on travel between them). Between the old and new states, transitional restrictions up to 1 May 2011 could be put in place, and EU workers still had a preferential right over non-EU workers in looking for jobs even if restrictions were placed upon their country. No restrictions were placed on Cyprus or Malta. The following restrictions were put in place by each country; Despite
7566-436: The newly emerged democracies would not fall back under Russian control. The EU and NATO offered a guarantee of this, and the EU was also seen as vital to ensuring the economic success of those countries. However, the EU's desire to accept these countries' membership applications was less than rapid. The collapse of communism came quickly and was not anticipated. The EU struggled to deal with the sudden reunification of Germany with
7663-657: The number of members, and after encouragement from the US, the EU pursued talks with ten countries and a change of mind by Cyprus and Malta helped to offset slightly the influx of large poorer member states from Central and Eastern Europe. Europe Association Agreement signing date Start of accession negotiations Population in 1998 1998 GDP ($ billions) 1998 GDP (PPP) per capita Real GDP in 1998 (1989=100) Real wage in 1998 (1989=100) Real gross industrial output in 1998 (1989=100) Qualified Majority Voting The procedures for voting in
7760-707: The number of votes rather describes the weight of a member's single vote. The analysis of the distribution of voting power under different voting rules in the EU Council often requires the use of complex computational methods that go beyond a mere calculation of vote share, such as the Shapley-Shubik index or the Banzhaf measure . According to Article 148 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC Treaty), acts of
7857-476: The pass condition translated into: Poland proposed the Penrose method (also known as the "square root method"), which would narrow the weighting of votes between the largest and smallest countries in terms of population. The Czech Republic supported this method to some extent, but has warned it would not back a Polish veto on this matter. All the other states remained opposed. After previously refusing to discuss
7954-417: The power of small member states in such circumstances. The declarations of the conference that adopted the Treaty of Nice contained contradictory statements concerning qualified majority voting after the enlargement of the European Union to 25 and 27 members: one declaration specified that the qualifying majority of votes would increase to a maximum of 73.4%, contradicting another declaration which specified
8051-553: The process. An association agreement helps prepare for this first step. In the case of the Western Balkans , a special process, the Stabilisation and Association Process exists to deal with the special circumstances there. When a country formally applies for membership, the Council asks the commission to prepare an opinion on the country's readiness to begin negotiations. The council can then either accept or reject
8148-416: The same wave of enlargement was the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 , who were unable to join in 2004, but, according to the commission, constitute part of the fifth enlargement. With the end of World War II in May 1945, Europe found itself divided between a capitalist Western Bloc and a communist Eastern Bloc , as well as Third World neutral countries. The European Economic Community (EEC)
8245-421: The southern Europe struck by the global financial crisis. In a limelight of Brexit , the attractiveness of United Kingdom, a market that used to hold the largest share in immigration from A8 states, has sharply declined, and number of EU citizens leaving UK has hit its record heights. At 12 years after the enlargement, the EU was still "digesting" the change. The influx of new members had effectively put an end to
8342-530: The use of "artificial" voting weights. This move, first proposed in the Constitution , is based on the size of populations and, at the same time, acknowledges the smaller member states' fears of being overruled by the larger countries. Article 238 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states the conditions for a reinforced qualified majority , when acting on a proposal from neither
8439-524: The values referred to in Article 2 and is committed to promoting them" ( TEU Article 49 ). Those Article 2 values are "respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities." This is based on the 1993 " Copenhagen criteria " agreed as it became clear many former Eastern Bloc countries would apply to join: Membership requires that candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy,
8536-402: The vote, the minimum number of countries representing more than 35% of the population of the participating countries, plus one country) vote against the proposal. Thus, there may be cases where an act is passed, even though the population condition is not met. This precludes scenarios where 3 populous countries could block a decision favored by the other 24 countries. The Lisbon rules eradicated
8633-612: The wording of Article 299(2), first subparagraph, and Article 299(3) to (6); the text shall be amended as follows: [...] (e) the following new paragraph shall be added at the end of the Article: "6. The European Council may, on the initiative of the Member State concerned, adopt a decision amending the status, with regard to the Union, of a Danish, French or Netherlands country or territory referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2. The European Council shall act unanimously after consulting
8730-561: Was a laser show in Malta among the various other celebrations. Limerick, Ireland's third largest City, hosted Slovenia as one of ten Cities and Towns to individually welcome the ten accession countries. The then Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop was Guest Speaker at a business luncheon hosted by Limerick Chamber. EU Association Agreement type: Europe Agreement for the states of the Fifth Enlargement. s – screening of
8827-563: Was created in 1957 between six countries within the Western Bloc and later expanded to twelve countries across Europe. European communist countries had a looser economic grouping with the USSR known as Comecon . To the south there was a non-aligned communist federated country – Yugoslavia . Between 1989 and 1991, the Cold War between the two superpowers was coming to an end, with the USSR's influence over communist Europe collapsing. As
8924-601: Was founded with the Inner Six member states in 1958, when the Treaty of Rome came into force. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-seven, with the latest member state being Croatia , which joined in July 2013. The most recent territorial enlargement of the EU was the incorporation of Mayotte in 2014. Campione d'Italia joined the EU Customs Union in 2020. The most notable territorial reductions of
9021-433: Was more readily accepted with the prospect of poorer countries wishing to join; contributions from richer countries would help balance the EU budget. On 1 January 1995 Austria , Finland , and Sweden acceded to the EU marking its fourth enlargement. The Norwegian government lost a second national referendum on membership. In the late 1980s (shortly prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union ) Mikhail Gorbachev announced
9118-452: Was rejected by all the member countries in 1964; Spain was not a democracy at the time, and thus unable to enter the EEC. The Community did see some loss of territory due to the decolonialisation occurring in their era. Algeria , which was an integral part of France, had a special relationship with the Community. Algeria gained independence on 5 July 1962 and hence left the Community. There would be no further efforts at enlargement until
9215-439: Was seen as a way to revitalise the community. Only after a 12-hour talk between British Prime Minister Edward Heath and French President Georges Pompidou took place did Britain's third application succeed. After Britain was accepted Prime Minister Edward Heath said: For my part, I have no doubt at all that the discussions which we have had will prove of real and lasting benefit, not only to Britain and France, but to Europe as
9312-646: Was signed on 16 April 2003, at the Stoa of Attalus in Athens, Greece, between the then-EU members and the ten acceding countries. The text also amended the main EU treaties , including the Qualified Majority Voting of the Council of the European Union . The treaty was ratified on time and entered into force on 1 May 2004 amid ceremonies around Europe. European leaders met in Dublin for fireworks and
9409-521: Was the Council's key way of decision-making. In terms of the statistics before Croatia became a member of the EU (1 July 2013), the pass condition translated into: The last requirement was almost always already implied by the condition on the number of voting weights. The rare exceptions to this could occur in certain cases when a proposal was backed by exactly three of the six most populous member states but not including Germany, that is, three of France, UK, Italy, Spain and Poland, and by all or nearly all of
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