Page 9 - EU Legislation Behind the EU Accession Process, Accession Criteria and Accession Stages

II. The applicant state should become an EU candidate country.
In order to become an EU candidate, the applicant country needs
to submit its request for EU membership to the Council of the European

Union. The Council notifies the European Parliament, the European
Commission and the national parliaments of the EU member states
about the request.

The Council then tasks the Commission to review the
compliance of every sector of the applicant state with the EU “Acquis
Communautaire” – the whole legal base of the EU, including EU
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treaties, directives and regulations, and international agreements, etc.
Based on its findings, the Commission presents a comprehensive
document concerning reforms which an applicant needs to implement
in order to be ready for EU membership. Also, the commission presents

its recommendation as to whether or not the applicant may be granted
EU candidate status. If the Commission’s recommendation is positive,
the Council takes its decision with the unanimity voting rule.

III. Accession negotiations between the candidate and the EU begin.
The EU Council takes a decision by consensus on launching
accession talks with the EU candidate country. The European
Commission represents the EU at the talks. As a rule, the negotiations

take a few years. In the course of the negotiations, the Commission
makes a regular assessment of the progress achieved by the candidate in
all spheres and reports to the EU Council and the European Parliament.

5 “Acquis Communautaire”
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/conditions-membership/chapters-of-the-acquis_en

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