General knowledge · Economics & society

The Copenhagen criteria

Agreed at the European Council of 21–22 June 1993

European politics — the conditions for joining the EU

The three conditions a country must satisfy to join the European Union, agreed by heads of government at the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993 as the former communist states of central and eastern Europe began to apply. They are political — stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for minorities; economic — a functioning market economy able to cope with competitive pressure within the Union; and administrative — the ability to take on the obligations of membership, including the aims of political, economic and monetary union. A fourth consideration, the Union's own capacity to absorb new members, was added in the same conclusions and has been invoked more often as enlargement has slowed.

How to spot them

▸A European Council of June 1993, held as the post-communist states queued up to apply
▸Three conditions — political, economic and the ability to take on the obligations of membership
▸The acquis communautaire, divided into thirty-five negotiating chapters
▸Chapters 23 and 24, on the judiciary and on justice and home affairs, opened first and closed last

Key facts

Agreed by heads of government at a Danish summit in June 1993, as the post-communist states began to apply (1993)

The European Council of 21–22 June 1993

'Stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities' (1993)

The political condition — the one the Union has struggled most to enforce after accession

'A functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union' (1993)

The economic condition

The body of existing EU law a candidate must adopt, split since 2007 into thirty-five negotiating chapters

The acquis communautaire; chapters are opened and closed one by one, and any member state can block either

The Madrid European Council of 1995 added the need for the administrative capacity actually to apply the rules (1995)

A practical supplement: transposing law is not the same as enforcing it

The conditions' first great test: ten countries joined on 1 May 2004 (2004)

The largest single enlargement; Bulgaria and Romania followed in 2007 and Croatia in 2013

Written into Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, which requires respect for the Union's founding values

Article 49 refers back to the values in Article 2 — the treaty anchor for the political condition

Key ideas

The conditions are asymmetric in enforcement: they are rigorously policed before accession and very hard to enforce afterwards, which is the root of the Union's disputes over rule of law with existing members.
The 'fundamentals first' approach, adopted for the Western Balkans, opens the chapters on the judiciary and on justice and home affairs earliest and closes them last, so that reform is sustained across the whole negotiation rather than delivered at the end.
Absorption capacity is a condition on the Union rather than on the candidate — the requirement that enlargement not overwhelm the EU's own institutions and budget. It is the criterion most often reached for when enthusiasm for enlargement fades.

Quick-fire facts

•The criteria were set out in the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council of 21–22 June 1993
•There are three: political, economic, and the ability to take on the obligations of membership
•The Madrid European Council of December 1995 added the requirement of administrative capacity to apply the acquis
•The acquis communautaire has been divided into 35 negotiating chapters since 2007; there were 31 for the 2004 enlargement
•Ten countries acceded on 1 May 2004, the largest single enlargement in the Union's history
•Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007 and Croatia on 1 July 2013, the most recent accession
•Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union is the legal basis for applications and requires respect for the values listed in Article 2
•The Stabilisation and Association Process adds further conditions for the Western Balkans, including regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations
•The Union's own 'absorption capacity' was also mentioned in the 1993 conclusions and has since been restated as the capacity to integrate new members
•Turkey has been a candidate since 1999 and began negotiations in 2005; talks have long been effectively frozen

Drill it — 8 cards

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Sources

European Commission, Directorate-General for Enlargement — Conditions for membership