Accession Conference

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An intergovernmental IGC or accession conference (English Intergovernmental Conference or Accession Conference ) will be a meeting of the negotiating delegations of the European Union and an official candidate country called. These conferences take place within the framework of the accession negotiations between the European Union and official candidate countries . They are specially arranged depending on the progress of the negotiation and serve to open or close various negotiation chapters.

procedure

The negotiating delegations of the EU (the Commission and the Member States) and the candidate country take part in the accession conferences. They are chaired by the respective chair . As a basis for the negotiations of serving a draft common position of the EU (English. Draft EU Common Position ), which was drawn up by the European Commission and at working group level in the Council, was treated, and the negotiating position of the candidate country, which will also be submitted in advance.

The dynamism of the negotiations depends heavily on the reform efforts of the candidate country on the one hand and the will of the EU member states to expand. The exact time schedule is particularly influenced by the country in which the presidency and the European Commission are concerned. Since, in the event of enlargement, there must be unanimity among all member states, each EU member state has the veto right to open and close various negotiation chapters, which can also have a decisive influence on the dynamics of the negotiations.

Accession process

The accession procedure, which was reformed after Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, provides for strict rules for opening and closing negotiation chapters. A total of 35 negotiation chapters must be fulfilled.

The negotiations begin with a screening of the candidate country's legislation in the respective negotiation chapter. In the further course, a candidate country must show so-called benchmarks or performance records ("track record") both when opening negotiation chapters and when they are concluded , which are supposed to prove that legal acts have not only come into force but also implemented become. The member states of the EU have the right to veto the continuation of the negotiations at any time , because the negotiations on a chapter only begin or end after approval by the member states (usually by the Council for General Affairs of the EU foreign ministers) . Negotiating chapters are formally resolved in the framework of the specially arranged intergovernmental accession conferences.

The commission prepares annual progress reports on the status of negotiations and the reform efforts of the candidate country. The European Parliament is an active observer of the accession negotiations and regularly assesses the status of the negotiations. The Commission's task is to keep the European Parliament informed of all important phases of the accession negotiations. According to Art. 49 of the EU Treaty, any enlargement requires the consent of the European Parliament , which decides with an absolute majority of its members. The European Parliament plays an important role in the financial aspect of enlargement, as it as the budgetary authority, together with the Council, approves all EU expenditure.

Primary law change

Every enlargement of the EU leads to a change in the Treaties ( primary law ). Fundamental changes to the Treaties are discussed in conferences of the representatives of the governments of the member states of the European Union . All obligations or transitional arrangements for the candidate country are set out in the accession treaty . In return, the accession treaty also binds all EU member states, as it has to be ratified by all member states .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Council of the EU. Press release. Twelfth meeting of the Accession Conference at Ministerial level with Croatia. Twelfth meeting of the Accession Conference at Ministerial level with Croatia (PDF; 86 kB)
  2. ↑ This screening of the legislation took about a year in the case of Croatia.
  3. ↑ European Parliament. Information office for Austria. Extension. ( Memento from December 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

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