The first Copenhagen criterion and its role in the country’s accession process to the EU Shcholokova Ganna Candidate of Political Sciences Senior Lecturer, Political Science Department DNU named after O.Honchar

 “stable institutions that guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities”;

 “a functioning market economy, as well as the ability to cope with the pressure of competition and the market forces at work inside the Union”;

 “the ability to assume the obligations of membership, in particular adherence to the objective of political, economic and monetary union”.

Absorption capacity is about whether the EU can take in new members while continuing to function effectively. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ It is a functional concept, not a geographical one.

Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union states unequivocally that any European State which respects the principles set out in Article 6 (1) of TEU may apply to become a member of the Union.

Source:

 Croatia  The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  Turkey

 Albania  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244  Montenegro  Serbia  Iceland

 The EU is based more on values and political will than on rivers and mountains.  The political border of the EU has changed every time a new country has joined.

The main purpose: ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ to end the artificial divide between Western and Central and Eastern Europe through the promotion of economic and political integration.

FutureHistory

 the former communist countries  the Vishegrad countries (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia)  The Europe Agreements  The 2004 enlargement was the best prepared in the history of the EU.

is the process whereby national systems (institutions, policies, governments) adapt to EU policies and integration more generally, while also themselves shaping the EU. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

 Is enlargement a matter of foreign or home policy?  The enlargement procedure has democratic character  The Lisbon Treaty

The EU and Ukraine

 guarantee of political stability;  guarantee of democracy;  guarantee of security.

 Ukraine as a regional leader  All Europeans benefit from having stable democracies and prosperous market economies as neighbours.  Ukraine as EU neighbour  «Eastern Partnership» (Sweden and Poland as initiators)  «Black Sea Synergy»  Deepened economic integration as an immediate task

1. fulfilment of the first Copenhagen criterion is pre-condition for the beginning of association negotiations; 2. the EU has political borders; 3. the EU is the association of democracies; 4. the 2004 and 2007 EU enlargements had symbolic political character: it is a question of Europe reunification on the basis of democratic principles;

5. the EU has an influence on domestic politics and policy making in the candidate countries: it is a question of promoting democratic values (among other objectives); 6. the enlargement process, which has democratic character, is the very important factor of EU successful development. 7. So, both by formal and substantial characteristics the first Copenhagen criterion plays a determining role in the country’s accession process to the EU.

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