EU accession – Facilitating a complex process
Becoming a member of the EU is a long procedure and each candidate country must adopt and implement a huge volume of directives and regulations as national law. The Swedish EPA provides financial, administrative, and technical support during the pre-accession period.
EU Approximation Process
The approximation of law is a unique obligation of membership in the EU. It means that countries aspiring to join the union must align, implement, and enforce their national laws, rules, and procedures in order to give effect to the entire body of EU law contained in the acquis Communautaire.
Because of limited resources, prioritised management of the approximation process is crucial. This requires careful strategic planning and cost-effective programmes.
Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance, IPA
Pre-accession financial assistance is a key element of the EU’s pre-accession strategy and is provided by means of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, IPA. As the obligation to approximate continues after the accession, the pre-accession approximation process becomes an opportunity for countries to organise their institutions and procedures. Pre-accession assistance also helps the countries to train their staff for the daily processes and responsibilities of EU law making, implementation, and enforcement.
For the period 2021-2027, IPA III has a provisionally agreed financial envelope of €14.162 billion (in current prices) — to be confirmed (IPA II covered the 2014-2020 period and IPA I covered the 2007-2013 period). Its beneficiaries are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.
Assistance under IPA III is based on the draft programming framework, the strategic document of the European Commission for the use of EU funds assisting the IPA III beneficiaries. (källa: EUR-LEX – skulle bara kunna vara med I en Ordlista)
Negotiations and screening
Accession negotiations are held with each candidate country to determine their ability to implement EU legislation. The negotiations are also aimed at examining the countries’ possible request for transitional periods for a limited number of directives or regulations.
Once accession negotiations are opened, the European Commission investigates the candidate country in detail in a process called screening. The result is a screening report that identifies gaps that needs to be gradually addressed to comply with the EU legislation (acquis). The report either establishes benchmarks – conditions to be met before submitting the Negotiation Position – or invites the country to submit the Negotiating Position without additional conditions.
Chapter 27
To conduct the accession negotiations, the EU legislation and standards are divided into 35 chapters and form the basis of the accession for each candidate country. They correspond to the different areas of the acquis of the preceding for which reforms are needed to meet the accession conditions.