2004 enlargement of the European Union
Encyclopedia
The 2004 enlargement of the European Union was the largest single expansion of the
European Union
(EU), both in terms of territory, number of states and population
, however not in terms of gross domestic product
(wealth). It occurred on the 1st May, 2004.
The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries: Cyprus
, Czech Republic
, Estonia
, Hungary
, Latvia
, Lithuania
, Malta
, Poland
, Slovakia
and Slovenia
. Seven of these were members of the former Eastern Bloc
, with one from the former Yugoslavia
and the remaining two being Mediterranean islands.
Part of the same wave of enlargement was the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007
, who were unable to join in 2004 but constitute according to the Commission part of the fifth enlargement.
in 1945, Europe
found itself divided into two spheres of power, the United States
(US) and the Soviet Union
(USSR). The European Economic Community
(EEC) was created in 1957 between six countries
within the US sphere and expanded to twelve countries across western Europe
. Eastern Europe
had a looser economic grouping with the USSR known as Comecon
. To the south there was Yugoslavia
, a non-aligned
, but communist, federation.
In 1989, the Cold War
between the two superpower
s was coming to an end, with the USSR's influence over eastern Europe collapsing. As the communist states began their transition to free market
democracies
, aligning to Euro-Atlantic integration
, the question of enlargement to the east was thrust onto the EEC's agenda.
strategy was launched soon after to adapt the structure of the central and eastern European countries (Pays d'Europe Centrale et Orientale (PECO)) to Western
system and more specifically to the European Economic Community
. One of the major tools of this strategy was the Regional Quality Assurance Program (Programme Régional d'Assurance Qualité (PRAQ)) which started in 1993 to help the PECO States implement the New Approach in their economy.
The Acquis Communautaire contained 3,000 directives and some 100,000 pages in the Official Journal of the European Union
to be transposed. It demanded a lot of administrative work and immense economic change, and raised major cultural problems - e.g. new legal concepts and language consistency problems.
Copenhagen criteria
Nuclear plants.
was signed on 16 April 2003, at the Stoa of Attalus in Athens
, Greece
, between the then-EU members and the ten acceding countries. The text also amended the main EU treaties
, including the Qualified Majority Voting of the Council of the European Union
. The treaty was ratified on time and entered into force on 1 May 2004 amid ceremonies around Europe: leaders met in Dublin for fireworks while citizens enjoyed a city-wide celebration styled as the Day of Welcomes. President
Romano Prodi
took part in celebrations on the Italian-Slovenian border at the divided town of Gorizia
/Nova Gorica
, at the German-Polish border, the EU flag was raised and Ode to Joy
was sung and there was a laser show in Malta among the various other celebrations.
As of May 2011, there are no longer any special restrictions on the free movement of citizens of these new member states.
With their original accession to the EU, free movement of people
between all 25 states would naturally have applied. However, due to concerns of mass migration from the new eastern members to the old EU-15, some transitional restrictions were put in place. Mobility within the EU-15 (including Cyprus) and within the new states (minus Cyprus) functioned as normal (although the new states had the right to impose restrictions on travel between them). Between the old and new states, transitional restrictions up to 2011 could be put in place, and EU workers still had a preferential right over non-EU workers in looking for jobs even if restrictions were placed upon their country. No restrictions were placed on Cyprus or Malta. The following restrictions were put in place by each country;
Despite the fears, migration within the EU concerns less than 2% of the population. However, the migration did cause controversy in those countries which saw a noticeable influx, creating the notion of the Polish Plumber
in the west, caricaturing the cheap manual labour from the east making an imprint on the west. Following the 2007 enlargement, most countries placed restrictions on the new states, including the most open in 2004 (Ireland and the United Kingdom) with only Sweden, Finland and the 2004 members (minus Malta and Hungary). But as of April 2008, these restrictions on the eight members (they continue for Romania and Bulgaria) have been dropped by all members except Germany and Austria.
. Despite fears of paralysis, the decision making process has not been hampered by the new membership and if anything the legislative output of the institutions has increased, however justice and home affairs (which operates by unanimity) has suffered. The Commission sees the enlargement as a success, however until the enlargement is fully accepted by the public future enlargements may be slow in coming.
south (the Republic of Cyprus
) and the northern areas under Turkish military occupation (the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
). The Republic of Cyprus is recognised as the sole legitimate government by most countries, including the entire European Union, while the northern occupied area is recognised only by Turkey
.
Cyprus began talks to join the EU, which provided impetus to solve the dispute. With the agreement of the Annan Plan for Cyprus
, it was hoped that the two countries would join the EU together as a single United Cyprus Republic. Turkish Cypriots supported the plan. However, in a referendum on 24 April 2004 the Greek Cypriots rejected the plan. Thus, a week later, the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU with political issues unresolved. Legally, as the northern republic is not recognised by the EU, the entire island is a member of the EU as part of the Republic of Cyprus, though the de facto
situation is that the Government is unable to extend its controls into the occupied areas.
Efforts to reunite the island continue as of 2011.
With the fall of communism in 1989/1990 in Poland, Poland embarked on a series of reforms and changes in foreign policy, intending to join the EU and NATO. On 19 September 1989 Poland signed the agreement for trade and trade co-operation with the (then) European Community (EC). Polish intention to join the EU was expressed by Polish Prime Minister
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
in his speech in the European Parliament
in February 1990 and in June 1991 by Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
Krzysztof Skubiszewski
in Sejm
(Polish Parliament).
On 19 May 1990 Poland started a procedure to begin negotiations for an association agreement
and the negotiations officially began in December 1990. About a year later, on 16 December 1991 the European Union Association Agreement
was signed by Poland. The Agreement came into force on 1 February 1994 (its III part on the mutual trade relations came into force earlier on 1 March 1992).
As a result of diplomatic interventions by the states of the Visegrád group
, the European Council
decided at its Copenhagen
summit in June 1993 that: "the associate member states from Central and Eastern Europe, if they so wish, will become members of the EU. To achieve this, however, they must fulfil the appropriate conditions." Those conditions (known as the Copenhagen criteria, or simply, membership criteria) were:
At the Luxembourg
summit in 1997, the EU accepted the Commission's opinion to invite several Central and Eastern European states (Poland, Czech Republic
, Hungary
, Slovenia
, Estonia
and Cyprus
) to start talks on their accession to the EU. The negotiation process started on 31 March 1998. Poland finished the accession negotiations in December 2002. Than the Accession Treaty was signed in Athens
on 16 April 2003 (Treaty of Accession 2003
). After the ratification of that Treaty in the Polish European Union membership referendum, 2003
, Poland and other 9 countries became the members of EU on 1 May 2004.
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU), both in terms of territory, number of states and population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
, however not in terms of gross domestic product
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
(wealth). It occurred on the 1st May, 2004.
The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries: Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. Seven of these were members of the former Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
, with one from the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and the remaining two being Mediterranean islands.
Part of the same wave of enlargement was the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007
2007 enlargement of the European Union
The 2007 enlargement of the European Union saw Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union on 1 January 2007. It was the latest expansion of the EU, though considered by the European Commission as part of the same wave as the 2004 enlargement of the European Union.-Negotiations:Romania was the...
, who were unable to join in 2004 but constitute according to the Commission part of the fifth enlargement.
History
| REFERENDUM RESULTS |
Background
With the end of the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1945, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
found itself divided into two spheres of power, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(US) and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
(USSR). The European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
(EEC) was created in 1957 between six countries
Inner Six
The Inner Six, or simply The Six, are the six founding member states of the European Communities. This was in contrast to the outer seven who formed the European Free Trade Association rather than be involved in supranational European integration .-History:The inner six are those who responded to...
within the US sphere and expanded to twelve countries across western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
had a looser economic grouping with the USSR known as Comecon
Comecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organisation under hegemony of Soviet Union comprising the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world...
. To the south there was Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, a non-aligned
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
, but communist, federation.
In 1989, the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
between the two superpower
Superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests...
s was coming to an end, with the USSR's influence over eastern Europe collapsing. As the communist states began their transition to free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
democracies
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, aligning to Euro-Atlantic integration
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
, the question of enlargement to the east was thrust onto the EEC's agenda.
Negotiations
The PharePhare
The Phare programme is one of the three pre-accession instruments financed by the European Union to assist the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe in their preparations for joining the European Union....
strategy was launched soon after to adapt the structure of the central and eastern European countries (Pays d'Europe Centrale et Orientale (PECO)) to Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
system and more specifically to the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
. One of the major tools of this strategy was the Regional Quality Assurance Program (Programme Régional d'Assurance Qualité (PRAQ)) which started in 1993 to help the PECO States implement the New Approach in their economy.
The Acquis Communautaire contained 3,000 directives and some 100,000 pages in the Official Journal of the European Union
Official Journal of the European Union
The Official Journal of the European Union is the official gazette of record for the European Union . It is published every working day in all of the official languages of the member states. Only legal acts published in the Official Journal are binding.It was first published on 30 December 1952 as...
to be transposed. It demanded a lot of administrative work and immense economic change, and raised major cultural problems - e.g. new legal concepts and language consistency problems.
Copenhagen criteria
Copenhagen criteria
The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a country is eligible to join the European Union. The criteria require that a state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, has a functioning market economy, and accepts the obligations and intent of the EU...
Nuclear plants.
Accession
The Treaty of Accession 2003Treaty of Accession 2003
The Treaty of Accession 2003 was the agreement between the European Union and ten countries , concerning these countries' accession into the EU...
was signed on 16 April 2003, at the Stoa of Attalus in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, between the then-EU members and the ten acceding countries. The text also amended the main EU treaties
Treaties of the European Union
The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures and objectives...
, including the Qualified Majority Voting of the Council of the European Union
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...
. The treaty was ratified on time and entered into force on 1 May 2004 amid ceremonies around Europe: leaders met in Dublin for fireworks while citizens enjoyed a city-wide celebration styled as the Day of Welcomes. President
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
took part in celebrations on the Italian-Slovenian border at the divided town of Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
/Nova Gorica
Nova Gorica
Nova Gorica ; 21,082 ; 31,000 ) is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy...
, at the German-Polish border, the EU flag was raised and Ode to Joy
Anthem of Europe
"Ode to Joy" is the anthem of the European Union and the Council of Europe; both of which refer to it as the European Anthem due to the Council's intention that it represents Europe as a whole, rather than any organisation...
was sung and there was a laser show in Malta among the various other celebrations.
Free movement issues
With their original accession to the EU, free movement of people
Four Freedoms (European Union)
The European Union's Internal Market seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people – the EU's four freedoms – within the EU's 27 member states.The Internal Market is intended to be conducive to increased competition, increased specialisation, larger...
between all 25 states would naturally have applied. However, due to concerns of mass migration from the new eastern members to the old EU-15, some transitional restrictions were put in place. Mobility within the EU-15 (including Cyprus) and within the new states (minus Cyprus) functioned as normal (although the new states had the right to impose restrictions on travel between them). Between the old and new states, transitional restrictions up to 2011 could be put in place, and EU workers still had a preferential right over non-EU workers in looking for jobs even if restrictions were placed upon their country. No restrictions were placed on Cyprus or Malta. The following restrictions were put in place by each country;
- Austria and Germany: Restriction on free movement and to provide certain services. Work permits still needed for all countries. In Austria, to be employed the worker needs to have been employed for more than a year in his home country prior to accession. Germany had bilateral quotas which remained in force.
- Cyprus: No restrictions.
- Malta: No restrictions on its workers, but does have the right to migration into the country.
- Netherlands: Initially against restrictions, but tightened up its policies in early 2004 and said it would tighten its policies if more than 22,000 workers arrived per year.
- Finland: 2 years of transitional arrangements where a work permit would be granted only where a Finnish national cannot be found for the job. Does not apply to students, part time workers, entrepreneurs, people living in Finland for non-work purposes, people who were already living in Finland for a year or people who would be entitled to work anyway if they were from a third country.
- Denmark: Two years where only full time workers can get a work permitWork permitWork permit is a generic term for a legal authorization which allows a person to take employment.It is most often used in reference to instances where a person is given permission to work in a country where one does not hold citizenship, but is also used in reference to minors, who in some...
, if they had a residence permit. Workers did not get welfare but restrictions only apply to wage earners (all the EU-10 citizens can set up a business). - France: Five years of restrictions depending on sector and region. Students, researchers, self employed and service providers were exempt from the restrictions.
- Spain: Two years.
- Portugal: Two years, annual limit of 6,500.
- Sweden: No restrictions.
- Czech Republic and Slovakia: No restrictions.
- Poland: Reciprocal limits, only British and Irish citizens had free access. Countries with looser or tighter limits face similar limits in Poland.
- Belgium, Greece and Luxembourg: Two years.
- United Kingdom: Welfare restrictions only, need to register though.
- Ireland: No restrictions.
- Hungary: Reciprocal limits for seven years.
Despite the fears, migration within the EU concerns less than 2% of the population. However, the migration did cause controversy in those countries which saw a noticeable influx, creating the notion of the Polish Plumber
Polish Plumber
Polish Plumber was a phrase first used by Philippe Val in Charlie Hebdo and popularised by Philippe de Villiers as a symbol of cheap labour coming in from Central Europe as a result of the Directive on services in the internal market during the EU Constitution referendum in France in 2005.The...
in the west, caricaturing the cheap manual labour from the east making an imprint on the west. Following the 2007 enlargement, most countries placed restrictions on the new states, including the most open in 2004 (Ireland and the United Kingdom) with only Sweden, Finland and the 2004 members (minus Malta and Hungary). But as of April 2008, these restrictions on the eight members (they continue for Romania and Bulgaria) have been dropped by all members except Germany and Austria.
Lasting impact
7 years after the enlargement, the EU is still "digesting" the change. The influx of new members has effectively put an end to the Franco-German engine behind the EU, the new members are setting the policy agenda for example Eastern PartnershipEastern Partnership
The Eastern Partnership is a project which was initiated by the European Union . It was presented by the foreign minister of Poland with assistance from Sweden at a the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on 26 May 2008...
. Despite fears of paralysis, the decision making process has not been hampered by the new membership and if anything the legislative output of the institutions has increased, however justice and home affairs (which operates by unanimity) has suffered. The Commission sees the enlargement as a success, however until the enlargement is fully accepted by the public future enlargements may be slow in coming.
Cyprus
Since 1974 Cyprus has been divided between the GreekGreeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
south (the Republic of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
) and the northern areas under Turkish military occupation (the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus or North Cyprus , officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus , is a self-declared state that comprises the northeastern part of the island of Cyprus...
). The Republic of Cyprus is recognised as the sole legitimate government by most countries, including the entire European Union, while the northern occupied area is recognised only by Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Cyprus began talks to join the EU, which provided impetus to solve the dispute. With the agreement of the Annan Plan for Cyprus
Annan Plan for Cyprus
The Annan Plan was a United Nations proposal to resolve the Cyprus dispute, reuniting the breakaway Northern Cyprus with the Republic of Cyprus. The proposal was to restructure Cyprus as the "United Cyprus Republic", which would be a federation of two states. It was revised a number of times before...
, it was hoped that the two countries would join the EU together as a single United Cyprus Republic. Turkish Cypriots supported the plan. However, in a referendum on 24 April 2004 the Greek Cypriots rejected the plan. Thus, a week later, the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU with political issues unresolved. Legally, as the northern republic is not recognised by the EU, the entire island is a member of the EU as part of the Republic of Cyprus, though the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
situation is that the Government is unable to extend its controls into the occupied areas.
Efforts to reunite the island continue as of 2011.
Poland
Accession of Poland to the European Union took place in May 2004. Poland had been negotiating with the EU since 1989.With the fall of communism in 1989/1990 in Poland, Poland embarked on a series of reforms and changes in foreign policy, intending to join the EU and NATO. On 19 September 1989 Poland signed the agreement for trade and trade co-operation with the (then) European Community (EC). Polish intention to join the EU was expressed by Polish Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
The Prime Minister of Poland heads the Polish Council of Ministers and directs their work, supervises territorial self-government within the guidelines and in ways described in the Constitution and other legislation, and acts as the superior for all government administration workers...
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.-Biography:Mazowiecki comes from a Polish...
in his speech in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in February 1990 and in June 1991 by Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Polish government department tasked with maintaining Poland's international relations and coordinating its participation in international and regional supra-national political organisations such as the European Union and United Nations. It is considered to be...
Krzysztof Skubiszewski
Krzysztof Skubiszewski
Krzysztof Skubiszewski was a Polish politician, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and an established scholar in the field of international law.Skubiszewski was born in Poznań...
in Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
(Polish Parliament).
On 19 May 1990 Poland started a procedure to begin negotiations for an association agreement
European Union Association Agreement
A European Union Association Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by such agreements include the development of political, trade, social, cultural and security links...
and the negotiations officially began in December 1990. About a year later, on 16 December 1991 the European Union Association Agreement
European Union Association Agreement
A European Union Association Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by such agreements include the development of political, trade, social, cultural and security links...
was signed by Poland. The Agreement came into force on 1 February 1994 (its III part on the mutual trade relations came into force earlier on 1 March 1992).
As a result of diplomatic interventions by the states of the Visegrád group
Visegrád Group
The Visegrád Group, also called the Visegrád Four or V4, is an alliance of four Central European states – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – for the purposes of cooperation and furthering their European integration...
, the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
decided at its Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
summit in June 1993 that: "the associate member states from Central and Eastern Europe, if they so wish, will become members of the EU. To achieve this, however, they must fulfil the appropriate conditions." Those conditions (known as the Copenhagen criteria, or simply, membership criteria) were:
- That candidate countries achieve stable institutions that guarantee democracy, legality, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.
- That candidate countries have a working market economy, capable of competing effectively on EU markets.
- That candidate countries are capable of accepting all the membership responsibilities, political, economic and monetary.
At the Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
summit in 1997, the EU accepted the Commission's opinion to invite several Central and Eastern European states (Poland, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
) to start talks on their accession to the EU. The negotiation process started on 31 March 1998. Poland finished the accession negotiations in December 2002. Than the Accession Treaty was signed in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
on 16 April 2003 (Treaty of Accession 2003
Treaty of Accession 2003
The Treaty of Accession 2003 was the agreement between the European Union and ten countries , concerning these countries' accession into the EU...
). After the ratification of that Treaty in the Polish European Union membership referendum, 2003
Polish European Union membership referendum, 2003
Polish European Union membership referendum in 2003 also known in Poland as European referendum or accession referendum concerned accession of Poland to the European Union and ratification of the Treaty of Accession 2003 by Poland...
, Poland and other 9 countries became the members of EU on 1 May 2004.
See also
- 6th European Parliament6th European ParliamentThe Sixth European Parliament was the sixth five-year term of the elected European Parliament. It began on Tuesday 20 July 2004 in Strasbourg following the 2004 elections and ended after the 2009 elections.-Major events:* 10-13 June 2004...
- 1995 enlargement of the European Union1995 enlargement of the European UnionThe 1995 enlargement of the European Union saw Austria, Finland and Sweden accede to the European Union . This was the EU's fourth enlargement and came into effect on the 1 January of that year. All these states were previous members of the European Free Trade Association and had traditionally...
- 2007 enlargement of the European Union2007 enlargement of the European UnionThe 2007 enlargement of the European Union saw Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union on 1 January 2007. It was the latest expansion of the EU, though considered by the European Commission as part of the same wave as the 2004 enlargement of the European Union.-Negotiations:Romania was the...
- Enlargement of the European UnionEnlargement of the European UnionThe Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
- Future enlargement of the European UnionFuture enlargement of the European UnionThe future enlargement of the European Union is theoretically open to any European country which is democratic, operates a free market and is willing and able to implement all previous European Union law...
- Treaty of Accession 2003Treaty of Accession 2003The Treaty of Accession 2003 was the agreement between the European Union and ten countries , concerning these countries' accession into the EU...
- Statistics relating to enlargement of the European Union