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Accession Negotiations are the process by which a candidate country accedes to the European Union and adopts its founding treaties. The close of Accession Negotiations is followed by the signing of an international treaty between the EU Member States and the candidate country called the Accession Treaty.
Participants of the negotiating process are the candidate country on one side and the EU Member States on the other. In the course of negotiations, the negotiating positions of the EU are represented by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, on behalf of the Member States, while negotiations are conducted on behalf of the candidate country by the State Delegation for Negotiations. Apart from the Head of the State Delegation (in most cases elected at ministerial level), the State Delegation for Negotiations of the candidate country includes the Chief Negotiator and the Negotiating Team.
Negotiations are conducted within the framework of a bilateral Intergovernmental Conference held by representatives of the EU Member States on one side and representatives of the candidate country on the other. Representatives of the European Commission also take part in the Conference.
Sessions of the Intergovernmental Conference on accession are held at the level of heads of delegations for negotiations, usually ministers of foreign affairs, and at the level of deputy heads of delegations. When the Intergovernmental Conference convenes at the level of deputy heads of delegations, EU Member States are represented by their permanent representatives to the European Union in Brussels, while the candidate country is represented by the Chief Negotiator (or in some cases the Head of the Mission to the European Communities). Sessions of the Intergovernmental Conference at the level of heads of delegations are held once during each Presidency of the European Union, in other words, twice a year. Sessions at the level of deputies are held in between, by arrangement.
Accession to the EU is conditioned by the adoption of the acquis communautaire - the body of legislation and rules, political orientations, practice and obligations.
The main elements of the continuously expanding acquis communautaire are:
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other acts – resolutions, declarations, recommendations, guidelines, joint actions, joint positions, etc.
For the purpose of the negotiating process, the acquis communautaire is divided into 35 chapters. The candidate country does not negotiate on the acquis communautaire itself, but rather on the conditions and ways for its own legislation to be harmonised with it and on the means for its implementation. It is precisely for this reason that accession negotiations are not considered to be negotiations in the classical sense, but a process of harmonisation on the part of the candidate country to the values and to the legal, economic and social system of the European Union.
The negotiations are focused on the harmonisation of the legislation of a candidate country with the acquis communautaire and its capacity for the efficient implementation of the acquis. If a candidate country considers that for justifiable reasons it will require a longer period of time for harmonisation in a particular chapter, during negotiations on that chapter it may request so-called transitional periods. These transitional periods are additional periods in which the candidate country will complete the harmonisation of national legislation with the acquis in a particular area after accession to the EU. Requested transitional periods should be limited in time and scope, should not interfere with free market competition, and should not affect the internal market of the Community.
In exceptionally rare cases, candidate countries may also request derogations from the acquis, in other words permanent exceptions in particular areas. It is important to stress that transitional periods for the adoption of the acquis can also be agreed on in the interest of the EU.
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