During the interim period, acceding countries benefit from special arrangements: they are kept informed of EU legislation via an information and consultation procedure and are given the opportunity to comment on proposals; they hold an active observer status in all the relevant bodies, in which they have the right to speak but not to vote. The accession criteria, or Copenhagen criteria after the European Council in Copenhagen in which defined them , are the essential conditions all candidate countries must satisfy to become a member state.
These are:. The Union's capacity to absorb new members, while maintaining the momentum of European integration, is also an important consideration. For more details, see the following sections on our website:. Negotiations take place in intergovernmental conferences between member states and the candidate country. Negotiations help candidate countries to prepare to fulfil the obligations of EU membership.
They also allow the EU to prepare itself for enlargement in terms of integration capacity. The results of the negotiations are incorporated into a draft accession treaty, once the negotiations on all chapters have been closed.
Each candidate country also draws up an action plan for strengthening its administrative and judicial capacities. A state that wishes to apply for membership of the Union must satisfy two conditions:. Accession is not automatic, since it depends on the adequate preparation of the applicant country concerned and on the EU's capacity to integrate the new member. There is thus a pre-accession period of varying length, during which the candidate country adapts its institutions, standards and infrastructure to enable it to meet its obligations as a member state.
The conditions and date of accession, any transition periods required and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the Union is founded must be agreed in the form of an accession treaty between the candidate country and the Member States.
