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Progress toward accession

Introduction

In order to join the European Union, would-be member states sign an accession treaty with the current member states. The accession treaty mandates that new member states have the same rights and obligations as the existing members. The treaty must be adopted unanimously by the existing member states and by each new member state.

The European Commission, on behalf of the member states, negotiates with candidates on their ability to take on the obligations of membership, including the adoption of some 80,000 pages of common EU laws, norms and standards, the so-called acquis communautaire. The acquis is divided into 31 chapters.

One of the most sensitive components of the acquis is Chapter 24, Justice and Home Affairs. The objective of EU policies in this field is to further develop the Union as an "area of freedom, security and justice". Negotiations on this chapter relate to finding ways to build confidence among member states in the candidate countries’ capacities to implement the acquis on issues such as border control, illegal migration, drug trafficking and money laundering, organized crime, police and judicial cooperation, data protection, and the mutual recognition of court judgements. Perhaps the most visible component of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs policies is the Schengen acquis, which results in the lifting of internal border controls.

 

The Treaty of Amsterdam on the European Union which came into force on 1 May 1999 states that the EU:

  • must be maintained and developed as an area of freedom, security and justice;
  • (an area) in which the free movement of persons is assured;
  • in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border control, asylum, immigration an the prevention and combating of crime.

The area of Justice and Home Affairs is one of the three pillars of the European Union. The implementation of acquis in this area requires the existence of effectively functioning judiciary, border control, and police institutions and bodies. The Justice and Home Affairs acquis is very dynamic and constantly growing. It includes mainly directives, regulations, joint actions and positions, resolutions, decisions and conventions.

The field of Justice and Home Affairs was originally based on upon intergovernmental cooperation between member states. However, as a result of the Treaty of Amsterdam, it has partially become subject of supranational decision-making. The Convention on the Future of Europe proposed that Justice and Home Affairs become a shared competence, with qualified majority voting in the European Council and co-decision with the EU Parliament. In this way the intergovernmental cooperation will become even more supranational, with the European Commission’s right of initiative and the EU Court to judge.

 

Areas and policies involved:

  • Free movement of persons
  • Visa policy
  • EU external borders policy
  • Schengen area
  • Immigration
  • Asylum
  • Judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters
  • Drugs policy coordination
  • Racism and xenophobia
  • Policy and customs cooperation
  • Crime prevention Fight against organized crime

 

Updated on at Thursday, June 14, 2007