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| Untersuchte Arbeit: Seite: 91, Zeilen: 1 ff. (complete page) |
Quelle: Marktler 2006 Seite(n): 344, 345, 346, 355, 356, Zeilen: 344: 14 ff.; 345: 1 ff.; 346: 13 ff.; 355: 23 ff.; 356: 1 ff. |
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| [Therefore,] the European Council made a very important and central statement: "The associated countries in the Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall place [sic] as soon as an associated country is able to assume the obligations of membership by satisfying the economic and political conditions required".319
The conditions that an applicant country must fulfil were as follows: - the stability of the institutions (political criteria) consisting of democracy, rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of the minorities; - a functioning market economy with the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the European Union (economic criteria); - the adoption of the acquis communautare [sic] (acquis criterion); as Community law is not only to be adopted, but also applied and enforced. The Madrid European Council in December 1995 added another criterion: expansion of administrative structures for effective adoption of the acquis. It was obvious that political criteria have existed for a long time in determining membership. The Copenhagen innovation was only important by the fact that membership obliged compliance with particular political conditions explicitly set out by the European Council. 2. The Preparation for Enlargement The meeting of the European Council in Luxembourg in December 1997 marked a moment of historic significance for the future of the Union and of Europe as a whole. In the ongoing enlargement process, the nations of Europe had overcome the divisions of the past. The European Conference was established to. bring together Member States of the European Union and states aspiring to accede to it. The European Council formed an assessment of the situation in each of the eleven applicant states based on the Commission's opinions. It decided to start the accession process with ten CEEC countries and Cyprus, declaring that "All these states are destined to join the European Union on the basis of the same criteria and ... are participating in the accession process on an equal footing".320 One significant result of the Luxembourg meeting was the decision to begin negotiations with Poland, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus321 in the spring of 1998 by convening intergovernmental conferences. The European Council stressed that: "The Decision to enter into negotiations does not imply that they will be successfully concluded at the same time. Their conclusion and the subsequent accession of the different applicant [sates [sic] will depend on the extent to which each complies with the Copenhagen criteria and on the Union's ability to assimilate new members".322] 319 European Council in Copenhagen, 21-22 June 1993, Conclusions of the Presidency. 320 European Council in Luxembourg, 12-13 December 1997, Conclusions of the Presidency, para. 10. 321 The "Luxembourg Group". 322 European Council in Luxembourg, 12-13 December 1997, Conclusions of the Presidency, para. 26. |
Therefore, the European Council made a very important and central statement:
“[T]he associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall become members of the European Union. Accession will take place as soon as an associated country is able to assume the obligations of membership by satisfying the economic and political conditions required.”7 The conditions that an applicant country must fulfil are as follows: - Stability of institutions (= political criteria) consisting of democracy, rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities. - Functioning market economy and capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the European Union (= economic criterion). [page 345] - Adoption of the acquis communautaire (= acquis criterion). As Community law is not only to be adopted, but also applied and enforced, the Madrid European Council in December 1995 added another criterion: - Expansion of administrative structures for effective adoption of the acquis. [page 346] Hence it is obvious that political criteria in particular have existed for a long time already. The Copenhagen innovation consists only in the fact that membership obliges compliance with those conditions explicitly set forth by the European Council. [page 355] The meeting of the European Council in Luxembourg in December 1997 marked a moment of historic significance for the future of the Union and of Europe as a whole. In the ongoing enlargement process, the nations of Europe had overcome the divisions of the past. The European Conference62 was established to bring together Member States of the European Union and states aspiring to accede to it. The European Council formed an idea of the situation in each of the eleven applicant states based on the Commission’s Opinions. It decided to start the accession process with ten Central and Eastern European states and Cyprus, declaring that “all these states are destined to join the European Union on the basis of the same criteria, and […] are participating in the accession process on an equal footing”.63 One significant result of the Luxembourg [page 356] meeting was the decision to begin negotiations with Poland, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus64 in the spring of 1998 by convening intergovernmental conferences. The European Council stressed that:
6 European Council in Copenhagen, Conclusions of the Presidency, (21-22 June 1993, SN 180/1/93) 12. 7 ibid 13. 62 On the purpose and structure of the European Conference, see Vörös/Droutsas, Die Europa-Abkommen (n 15) 2 (sub V A). 63 European Council in Luxembourg Conclusions of the Presidency (12-13 December 1997) para 10. 64 The “Luxembourg Group”. 65 European Council in Luxembourg (n 63) para 26. |
The ungrammatical form of the quotation given in the first paragraph is not identical to the one used in the source. |
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