Any European country may apply for membership of the European Union if it respects the democratic values of the EU and is committed to promoting them. Countries may only join, however, once they meet certain criteria.
Economic criteria for a country to be eligible to join the EU, and how compliance and progress are monitored.
How countries joining the EU prepare their economies for economic and monetary union.
Pre-accession economic programmes help candidate countries for EU membership prepare to participate in the EU’s economic and monetary union.
