Accession Partnership
The Accession Partnership is the central document between the European Commission and the enlargement candidates for the allocation of support services. The Accession Partnership explains in detail the priorities in preparing the country for EU enlargement , in particular in terms of the implementation of the common acquis ( EU acquis ); it forms the basis for the allocation of pre-accession aid (Instruments for Pre-Accession) from the Community funds. The first accession partnerships were concluded by the Council in 1998 with each individual candidate country (except Cyprus ). The European Commission monitors compliance with the priorities set for the Accession Partnerships in the progress reports. The principle of conditionality prevails .