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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 European Council. 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 treaties, directives and
100
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.

One may find numerous practical examples of the above-
mentioned procedures by looking back to the accession process of
Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in 2022-2024. Indeed, these states
submitted their application for EU membership to the Council. The EU
Commission tabled its recommendations for each applicant. Based on
the recommendations, the Council voted on granting the EU candidacy
to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
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.
100 “Acquis Communautaire”
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/conditions-membership/
chapters-of-the-acquis_en