• European Commission
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• Key documents

Documents concerning the Enlargement Process with the fifth Enlargement countries:

CZECH REPUBLIC, CYPRUS, ESTONIA, HUNGARY, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, MALTA, POLAND, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA

The fifth Enlargement was an historical and unprecedented Enlargement in the history of the European Union, which provided the opportunity to further the integration of the continent by peaceful means.

In June 1993, at its Summit in Copenhagen, the European Council declared that 'the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall become members of the Union'.

During the 1990s the countries of Central and Eastern Europe submitted their applications for EU membership.

The Luxembourg Summit of December 1997 decided to launch the enlargement process and open negotiations with the first group of candidate countries, the so called "Luxembourg countries" the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Cyprus – on 31 March 1998. Later, at the Helsinki European Council on 12 December 1999, the member states decided to launch accession also with the second group of countries – Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and the Slovak Republic, known as "Helsinki countries". The negotiations were opened on15th February 2000. Accession negotiations with ten of the twelve negotiating countries were completed in 2002 at the Copenhagen Summit of 2002. The Accession Treaty was signed in April 2003, accession followed in May 2004:

Treaty of Accession 2003

• Official Journal L 236 of September 2003
  Here you will find the Accession Treaty 2003 with Annexes and Protocols and other documents concerning the accession of the countries that joined the EU on 1 May 2004, such as Commission Opinion of 19 February 2003, European Parliament Resolutions on the application to become member of the EU (Assent Procedure), Council Decision on the admission to the EU.

BULGARIA AND ROMANIA, which have been integral part of the enlargement process launched in 1997, completed the negotiations in December 2004 and a Treaty of Accession was signed in April 2005. Previous Reports concerning the accession process with both countries you will find here.

• For the last assessment Reports (Monitoring/Comprehensive Monitoring Reports) see above Acceding Countries/Monitoring Reports

Here you will find all important documents related to the fifth Enlargement of the European Union

Europe and Association Agreements

Soon after the fall of the Berlin wall, the European Community established diplomatic relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. During the 1990s, the Association Agreements – the so called Europe Agreements - were signed with the ten central and eastern European countries. Europe Agreements prepared the way for the EU and the candidate countries to converge economically, politically, socially and culturally. They covered political cooperation, favourable trade relations, economic activities and cultural cooperation. The Association Agreements with Cyprus and Malta (signed in 1970 with Malta and in 1972 with Cyprus) covered similar fields (except political dialogue).

1997 Commission's Opinions On request of the European Council in Madrid in December1995 the Commission evaluated in its Opinion of 15 June 1997 the ten candidate countries' from Central and Eastern Europe capacity to adopt and implement the EU's legislation acquis communautaire and gave recommendation concerning the opening of negotiations. The readiness for membership of the Republic of Cyprus and Malta were evaluated in Commission Opinion of 30 June 1993 (updated for Malta on 17 February 1999). On the basis of the Commission's recommendations, the European Summit in Luxembourg in December1997 launched a process for all countries wishing to join the EU:

• Opinion on Bulgaria's Application for Membership of the EU [674 KB]
• Opinion on Cyprus Application for Membership of the EU – 30 June 1993 [6 MB]
• Opinion on Czech Republic Application for Membership of the EU [708 KB]
• Opinion on Estonia's Application for Membership of the EU [656 KB]
• Opinion on Hungary's Application for Membership of the EU [699 KB]
• Opinion on Latvia's Application for Membership of the EU [667 KB]
• Opinion on Lithuania's Application for Membership of the EU [654 KB]
• Opinion on Poland's Application for Membership of the EU [711 KB]
• Opinion on Romania's Application for Membership of the EU [537 KB]
  • Annexe [2 MB]
  • Corrigendum [286 KB]
• Opinion on Slovakia's Application for Membership of the EU [723 KB]
• Opinion on Slovenia's Application for Membership of the EU [687 KB]
• Report updating the Commission opinion on Malta's application for membership – 17 February 1999 [3 MB]

Regular/Progress Reports and Enlargement Strategy Papers 1998-2003

Luxembourg European Council in Luxembourg in 1997 invited the Commission to draw up Regular Reports on the progress made towards accession by each of the candidate country. Each year the Commission assessed the progress made by applicant countries in the Regular Reports, which served as a basis for the Council to make its conclusions on the readiness for membership by each candidate country. The Regular Reports were accompanied by a Strategy paper;

• 2003 Enlargement Package;
• 2002 Enlargement Package;
• 2001 Enlargement Package;
• 2000 Enlargement Package;
• 1999 Enlargement Package;
• 1998 Enlargement Package.

Accession Partnerships

In order to prepare candidate countries to adopt the EU's laws and regulations, Accession Partnerships were created. Each Partnership was an agreement between the EU and a candidate country that took into account the country's particular needs and brought together in one framework all the various forms of EU financial and other support; The first Accession Partnerships were decided in March 1998, for the Republic of Cyprus and Malta in March 2000. They were regularly updated taking into account further developments in a candidate country. Accession Partnerships for each country are included in the Enlargement Packages (see Regular Reports).

Financial Assistance

Together with two other Instruments financed by the European Communities, namely ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for pre-accession assistance) and SAPARD (Special Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development), the Phare Programme aims to assist candidate and acceding countries in their efforts to strengthen their public administrations and institutions to function effectively inside the European Union, to promote convergence with the European Community’s legislation, to reduce the need for transition periods and to promote Economic and Social Cohesion (ESC). For more information on Phare's role in pre-accession assistance see Phare Legislation, Reports & Publications.

Explaining the fifth EU Enlargement

• In May 2000 the Commission adopted its Communication Strategy for Enlargement. [121 KB]
  It aimed to explain to the public in the Member States as well as in candidate countries the reasons for, and likely consequences of, the largest and the most ambitious EU Enlargement on 1 May 2004.
• Report from the Commission to the Council - Explaining Europe's Enlargement – 5 June 2002
  This comprehensive Report "Explaining Enlargement" outlines the progress made since the launch of the Commission Strategy in May 2000.

Other Documents

Common Financial Framework 2004-2006 for the Accession Negotiations – 30 January 2002 [38 KB]

• Enlarging the European Union: Achievements and Challenges: Report of Wim KOK to the European Commission - 26 March 2003 In this Report, Mr Wim Kok, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, argues that by expanding its membership to 25 the EU can confront its four major challenges: economic performance, internal cohesion, security and its external role. [569 KB]
• Agenda 2000
  The Madrid European Council in December 1995 called on the European Commission to submit an assessment of the candidate countries' applications for membership (see Opinions) and to prepare a detailed analysis of what enlargement would mean for the EU. In July 1997, the Commission presented AGENDA 2000, a single framework in which the Commission outlined the broad perspective for the development of the EU and its policies beyond the turn of the century, addressed the challenge of enlargement, the impact of enlargement on the EU as a whole and the future financial framework beyond 2000, taking into account the prospect of enlarged Union.