Expansion of the EU
Dear European Parliament,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information: What are the plans of Expansion of the European Union and in specific, is Belarus, Montenegro, Ukraine, and Moldova close or are even talks going on towards them joining the European Union.
Yours faithfully,
Alexey Karyakin
Our ref.: A(2015)12248
Dear Mr Karyakin,
European Parliament acknowledges receipt of your request, which will be
processed as quickly as possible. You will receive a reply within 15
working days.
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY- ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
EPRS - European Parliamentary Research Service Directorate for the Library
Public Register webpage
[1][email address]
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
A(2015)12248
LF/md
Dear Mr Karyakin,
The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament (EP) has been asked to reply to your request for information concerning the enlargement of the European Union, notably with regard to Belarus, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova.
We would inform you that the EP has an important role to play throughout the whole enlargement process and right up to the accession of new Member States.
Parliament's most significant power in respect of enlargement is to give its consent by a majority of its component members before any new Member State can join the EU. For example, Croatia, the EU’s 28th and thus most recent Member State, joined the Union on 1 July 2013 after Parliament gave its consent on 1 December 2011.
An official vote of the EP on the accession of a new Member State is only required at the end of the process, when it comes to signing an accession treaty following the successful conclusion of accession negotiations. Nevertheless, Parliament is following enlargement policy very closely throughout the accession process of any candidate country. Parliament also has a significant role to play with regard to the financial aspects of accession since it has to approve the EU budget.
Any European state may apply to become a member of the Union if it respects the values common to Member States, as defined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, and is committed to promoting them. The European Parliament and national parliaments shall be notified of such an application.
Membership negotiations can start if all EU governments agree unanimously on a framework or mandate for negotiations with the candidate country. The negotiations take place between ministers and ambassadors of the EU governments and the candidate country. The European Commission carries out a detailed examination (screening) of the 35 different policy fields (negotiation chapters) and monitors the candidate's progress in applying EU legislation and meeting its other commitments, including any benchmark requirements.
The European Parliament for its part monitors the enlargement process throughout the negotiations by adopting resolutions on the enlargement process and strategy as well as the progress of the individual candidate countries. These resolutions often have a significant influence on the process. Parliament's resolution of 22 November 2012 on Enlargement is only one example of how intensively the European Parliament accompanies the enlargement process.
In the European Parliament, it is the Committee on Foreign Affairs which is responsible for coordinating the work on enlargement and ensuring consistency between the positions adopted by the Parliament. The Committee holds regular exchanges of views with the European Commissioner for Enlargement, high-level government representatives, experts and civil society stakeholders.
The EP also maintains regular bilateral relations with the parliaments of candidate and potential candidate countries through joint parliamentary committees and inter-parliamentary meetings. These discussions take place once or twice per year and cover all matters pertaining to the EU accession process, thereby ensuring a direct link between policymakers in the EU and in applicant countries.
Further information about Parliament's role in the EU enlargement process is available in Parliament's fact sheet on enlargement, in which it explains that currently 'Negotiations have been opened with Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are also candidate countries, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidate countries'.
We hope this is of interest and thank you for contacting the European Parliament.
Yours sincerely,
Citizens' Enquiries Unit
www.europarl.europa.eu/askEP/en
Disclaimer: Please note that the information given by the Citizens' Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament is not legally binding.
Please also note that this email box is used for sending emails only. Incoming emails are not treated. If you wish to contact the Citizens' Enquiries Unit, please use our webform
A(2015)12248
LF/md
Dear Mr Karyakin,
The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament (EP) has been
asked to reply to your request for information concerning the enlargement
of the European Union, notably with regard to Belarus, Montenegro, Ukraine
and Moldova.
We would inform you that the EP has an important role to play throughout
the whole enlargement process and right up to the accession of new Member
States.
Parliament's most significant power in respect of enlargement is to give
its consent by a majority of its component members before any new Member
State can join the EU. For example, Croatia, the EU’s 28th and thus most
recent Member State, joined the Union on 1 July 2013 after [1]Parliament
gave its consent on 1 December 2011.
An official vote of the EP on the accession of a new Member State is only
required at the end of the process, when it comes to signing an accession
treaty following the successful conclusion of accession negotiations.
Nevertheless, Parliament is following enlargement policy very closely
throughout the accession process of any candidate country. Parliament also
has a significant role to play with regard to the financial aspects of
accession since it has to approve the EU budget.
Any European state may apply to become a member of the Union if it
respects the values common to Member States, as defined in [2]Article 2
of the Treaty on European Union, and is committed to promoting them. The
European Parliament and national parliaments shall be notified of such an
application.
Membership negotiations can start if all EU governments agree unanimously
on a framework or mandate for negotiations with the candidate country. The
negotiations take place between ministers and ambassadors of the EU
governments and the candidate country. The European Commission carries out
a detailed examination (screening) of the 35 different policy fields
([3]negotiation chapters) and monitors the candidate's progress in
applying EU legislation and meeting its other commitments, including any
benchmark requirements.
The European Parliament for its part monitors the enlargement process
throughout the negotiations by adopting resolutions on the enlargement
process and strategy as well as the progress of the individual candidate
countries. These resolutions often have a significant influence on the
process. Parliament's [4]resolution of 22 November 2012 on Enlargement is
only one example of how intensively the European Parliament accompanies
the enlargement process.
In the European Parliament, it is the [5]Committee on Foreign Affairs
which is responsible for coordinating the work on enlargement and ensuring
consistency between the positions adopted by the Parliament. The Committee
holds regular exchanges of views with the European Commissioner for
Enlargement, high-level government representatives, experts and civil
society stakeholders.
The EP also maintains regular bilateral relations with the parliaments of
candidate and potential candidate countries through joint parliamentary
committees and inter-parliamentary meetings. These discussions take place
once or twice per year and cover all matters pertaining to the EU
accession process, thereby ensuring a direct link between policymakers in
the EU and in applicant countries.
Further information about Parliament's role in the EU enlargement process
is available in [6]Parliament's fact sheet on enlargement, in which it
explains that currently 'Negotiations have been opened with Iceland,
Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia are also candidate countries, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Kosovo are potential candidate countries'.
We hope this is of interest and thank you for contacting the European
Parliament.
Yours sincerely,
Citizens' Enquiries Unit
[7]www.europarl.europa.eu/askEP
Disclaimer
Please note that the information given by the Citizens' Enquiries Unit of
the European Parliament is not legally binding
References
Visible links
1. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/ne...
2. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/E...
3. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/policy/c...
4. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getD...
5. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees...
6. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ftu/pdf/en...
7. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/askep