1. EU-integration knowledges Prepared by Dr. Endre Domonkos (PhD)
Academic Year 2013/2014 Autumn Semester

2. I. The enlargement of the European integration
The enlargement of the European Communities and then the European Union happened in several waves.
The Northern enlargement was followed by the Southern one, and by the admission of the EFTA-countries and then by the Eastward enlargement.
The only exception was the admission of Greece that joined the European Communities in 1981.
The potential candidate countries are the followings: Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.

3. II. The European integration after De Gaulle’s viewpoint
The main confirmation of the success of the EEC (the removal of customs tariffs and quantitative restrictions between member states, the dynamic trade and economic growth) was provided through the re-evaluation of the British political attitude.
Seeing the results of integration of the six Member States, the United Kingdom indicated its intention to join the Community in July 1961.
General De Gaulle set a veto on the application when the United Kingdom indicated its intention to join the Community in and in 1967.

4. III. The Six become Nine: enlargement of the European Communities
In 1969, De Gaulle resigned, and thus the main obstacle to British entry was removed.
On 1-2 December Conference of Hague.
In June 1970, accession negotiations were started with the United Kingdom, and also with Denmark, Ireland and Norway.
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom became the members of the European Communities on 1 January 1973.
The Norwegian population rejected the accession in a referendum.

5. IV. The Southern enlargement of the European Communities
In Accession Treaty of Greece was signed in Athens.
On 1 January Greece became member of the EC.
In Spain and Portugal submitted their applications to the European Communities.
In Accession Treaties of both countries were signed in Madrid and Lisbon.
On 1 January Spain and Portugal joined the European Communities.

6. V. The Twelve become Fifteen: Enlargement of the EU
In Austria, Finland, Sweden submitted their applications to the European Communities.
Switzerland and Norway rejected the accession by a referendum.
On 1 January Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the European Union.
Thus, the number of European Union Member States grew to 15 on 1 January 1995.

7. VI. The process of eastward enlargement I.
The EEC was quick to initiate talks on improving relations with Hungary and Poland.
These aspirations were embodied in the trade agreement between the Community and Hungary signed on 26 September
At the Paris G7 summit on 14 July 1989, the world’s seven greatest economic powers decided to provide economic assistance to Hungary and Poland, the so-called PHARE programme.
On April 1990, the Dublin European Council proposed that associated status should be offered to those Central and Eastern European countries which were most advanced in the reform process (the Czech and Slovak Republic, Hungary and Poland, and also Romania and Bulgaria).

8. VI. The process of eastward enlargement II.
Finally, negotiations on association with the Czech and Slovak Republic, Poland and Hungary began in December 1990.
The Association Agreements and the so-called Interim Agreements with these countries were signed on 16 December 1991; the latter enabled the Associated Agreements’ trade provisions to become applicable immediately (or to be more exact on 1 March 1992).
These type of Association Agreements were called as „Europe Agreements”.

9. VI. The process of eastward enlargement III.
Trade provisions are the most important elements of the Agreements and set the ultimate aim full free trade in industrial products (which – for example in Hungary’s case was achieved by 31 December 2000).
The Europe Agreements also clarified a number of other trade- related questions.
They contained provisions on competition, rules of origin, and the approximation of customs legislation.
The European Agreements contained the intention of tightening political cooperation.

10. VI. The process of eastward enlargement IV.
For every associated CEEE country, the Europe Agreements created an institutional framework corresponding to Community institutional levels to run the association relationship.
The Europe Agreements created a new form of association status, which can be considered an innovation among Association Agreements.
Europe Agreements had several key elements that were not included in the previous Agreements that created association status.

11. VI. The process of eastward enlargement V.
The Copenhagen criteria can be considered as a political declaration because it was the first time when the European Union defined the conditions that applicant countries had to meet before accession.
These criteria, which have come to be known as „the Copenhagen criteria”, concern:
With the Copenhagen criteria, the EU redefined the conditions for joining the European integration process.

12. VI. The process of eastward enlargement VI.
The Essen European Council in December 1994: pre-accession strategy was adopted.
The White Paper was adopted by the Cannes European Council in June 1995.
At the Madrid Summit in December 1995, Member-State Heads or Government called upon the Commission to prepare country opinions for all Central and Eastern European applicant countries.

13. VI. The process of eastward enlargement VII.
The Commission issued AGENDA 2000 in 1997.
The main significance of AGENDA which bears the subtitle „For stronger and wider Europe” - was that the Commission dealt with the EU’s internal reforms, future strategy and enlargement in a single document.
The programme outlined in AGENDA 2000 proposed a strategy for reform in the subsequent years (in the period) and laid down a framework for enlargement.
AGENDA 2000 pointed out the feasibility of eastward enlargement while preserving common and community policies.

14. VI. The process of eastward enlargement VIII.
The Commission recommended that accession negotiations start with Cyprus and five Central and Eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia (known as the „Luxembourg group” or the 5+1).
On December 1997 the European Council’s meeting in Luxembourg turned out to be an historic milestone for eastward enlargement, as the Heads of State or Government committed themselves enlarging the EU to the east.
According to the Luxembourg Conclusions, it became possible to launch the enlargement process at the beginning of 1998.

15. VI. The process of eastward enlargement IX.
The accession negotiations with the 5+1 countries began one day later on 31 March, observing the six-month period from the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty.
According to the Luxembourg formula, accession would depend solely on the preparedness of the individual country.
The declared aim of the accession strategy was to help all applicants become fully-fledged members of the EU after they had taken on board as much of the acquis communautarie as possible.
This was facilitated by the so-called Accession Partnerships.

16. VI. The process of eastward enlargement X.
Accession Partnerships:
A key element of Accession Partnerships was the technical assistance and financial aid through the pre-accession funds.
The new system of pre-accession funds was laid down at the Berlin Summit in March 1999.
The Berlin European Council decided to finance candidate countries in the seven-year budgetary period with an annual sum of EUR 3,12 billion from three separate funds.
The remodelled PHARE programme provided EUR 1,56 billion in aid per year, which financed two main priorities.

17. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XI.
The Helsinki Summit of December 1999 brought further important decisions concerning the enlargement process.
The Member States decided in Helsinki to start negotiations with all remaining six applicants in early 2000.
The Helsinki European Council officially acknowledged the candidate status of Turkey.

18. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XII.
Following the Helsinki conclusions, the EU officially opened negotiations with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia on 15 February 2000.
The European Council’s session in Nice held from 7 to 10 December 2000 concluded the institutional reforms and opened the way for enlargement.
In Nice, the EU Heads of State or Government expressed their support for a concrete negotiating timetable.

19. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XIII.
The so-called „road map” proposed by the Commission and adopted by the European Council in Nice set out a priority schedule for the negotiations in the subsequent 18 months.
The Nice European Council Conclusions stated that the EU should be in a position to welcome new members from the end of
The Gothenburg European Council of June 2001 confirmed and specified the Nice timeframe.

20. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XIV.
The Laeken European Council of December 2001 conclude that, during the course of 2001, the Nice roadmap had been observed.
The content of the Laeken Summit:
The Laeken Summit supported the Big Bang concept of enlargement.
The concept of Big Bang enlargement and the Nice roadmap were confirmed by the Seville European Council of June 2002.

21. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XV.
The European Council’s meeting in Brussels held on October 2002 named all ten candidates already signed out in Laeken.
The Copenhagen European Council of December 2002 had to make the final decisions concerning negotiating chapters with financial implications and bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.
The EU managed to forge a compromise, and the final package of the accession negotiations were agreed upon with the 10 countries on 13 December 2002.

22. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XVI.
Accession negotiations were concluded one by one with each of the 10 countries, according to their needs, interests and level of preparedness.
The two key issues of accession negotiations – the budgetary sums involved transitional measures – were similar for all candidate countries.
The enlargement financial package that the 15 Member States and the 10 candidate countries agreed to in Copenhagen specified budgetary obligations and rights.

23. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XVII.
In the field of agriculture and structural and cohesion funding, the agreement reached in Copenhagen maintained the EU proposal on direct payments adopted in Brussels.
Structural and cohesion funding to the new Member States from to 2006 was set at below EUR 22 billion.
According to the agreement no distinction was made between the ‘new’ and ‘old’ Member States in structural and cohesion operations.
Copenhagen paved the way and caused significant positive changes in the financial position of new Member States from on.

24. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XVIII.
Other important elements of the accession negotiations were the followings:
1). In the field on free movement of persons the old Member States granted a transitional period of years.
2). In the chapter on free movement of capital, it was the new Member States who requested transitional exemptions, primarily for property and land ownership.
3). Important requests for transitional exemptions were put forward by acceding countries in the area of environment.
4). In the chapter of on competition, the major clash between the two negotiating sides was usually over state aids.
5). In the chapter on justice and home affairs related to border controls and accession to the Schengen area.

25. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XIX.
On 16 April 2003, the leaders of the 25 old and 10 acceding Member States signed the Treaty of Accession in Athens.
After the Treaty of Accession was signed by 25 Member States, the old and new Member States had to ratify it according to their own constitutional rules.
In nine of the ten acceding countries, the Treaty of Accession was not only ratified by the Parliament but also approved by the electorate in a referendum.

26. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XX.
Consequently, the first eastern enlargement of the EU took place on 1 May 2004, completing the fall of the Iron Curtain.
At the Copenhagen Summit of December 2002, specific decisions were taken concerning Bulgaria and Romania, engaged in accession negotiations since 2000.
The Thessaloniki Summit of June 2003 amended the roadmap by setting a target date for the conclusion of negotiations the following year.

27. VI. The process of eastward enlargement XXI.
The Heads of State or Government, at their summit meeting of December 2004 could decide on the official closure of negotiations and set 1 January 2007 as a target date for accession.
The Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania included a new kind of ‘super safeguard clause’ (postponement clause).
The Treaty of Accession with Bulgaria and Romania was signed on 25 April 2005 in Luxembourg.
Bulgaria and Romania became full member of the EU on 1 January 2007.

28. VII. Continuing eastward enlargement I.
Nonetheless, enlarging the Union to the east and southeast remains a top priority on the Union’s agenda, due to former commitments towards Turkey and countries of the Western Balkans.
The case of Turkey:
The Helsinki Council on December 1999 recognised Turkey as a candidate country, but the start of negotiations remained out of the question at the time.
On 1 August 2005, Turkey signed the Protocol to the Ankara Agreement.

29. VII. Continuing eastward enlargement II.
On 3 October 2005, Member States decided to start negotiations with Turkey.
But despite the Ankara Agreement and the request of the European Union, Turkey refused to allow ships flying Cypriot flags to enter Turkish ports.
As a consequence, the Council of the EU – following the Commission’s proposal – decided on 11 December 2006 to suspend eight chapters related to the customs union and not to re-open them until Turkey fully implemented the Ankara Agreement.

30. VII. Continuing eastward enlargement III.
The Thessaloniki Summit held on June 2003, decided to offer the prospect of EU membership to the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia-Montenegro, including Kosovo).
The EU’s commitment to the Western Balkan was demonstrated by the decision of the Brussels Council meeting of June 2004.
The accession negotiations started with Croatia on the same day as Turkey (3 October 2005).
The European Council’s meeting held on December decided to grant Macedonia candidate status.

31. VII. Continuing eastward enlargement IV.
The primary goal is to implement the Stabilisation and Association agreements (SAAs).
Still, the EU considers all of these countries (Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Serbia, including Kosovo, under interim UN administration) as potential candidates for EU membership.
From 1 January 2007, all existing pre-accession-type funds (PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD, Turkey’s pre-accession support and CARDS for the (IPA), which covers candidate countries (Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey) as well as potential candidates (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia, including Kosovo).

32. VII. Continuing eastward enlargement V.
The IPA has five constituent strands, each supporting one priority area.
IPA provides a total amount of EUR billion over the period.
On March 3, 2012: decision of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States about the start of accession negotiations with Montenegro.
On July 1, Croatia became full member of the EU.
Further enlargement process: absorption capacity of the EU.

33. Literature
- Zoltán Horváth (2011): Handbook on the European Union, Hungarian National Assembly, Fourth Edition, Chapter I., pp