L'adhésion à l'UE, comment ça marche ?

The Process of Joining the European Union

This transcript explains the process of joining the European Union, including who can become a member and the steps involved in becoming a member.

Becoming a Member of the EU

• To become a member of the EU, a country must be a sovereign state located geographically in Europe and fully or partially respect EU values such as democracy and human rights.

• The process of joining the EU is long and takes several years. There are four main stages:

• Agreement on Association: Before applying for membership, countries can start to align their national laws with EU rules by signing an association agreement that establishes a free trade area between them and the EU.

• Candidate Status: A country applies for membership by sending its application to the Council of the European Union. After consultation with the Commission and approval from Parliament, candidate status may be granted. Currently, seven countries have official candidate status: Turkey, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

• Pre-accession Strategy: Negotiations begin between the candidate country and Brussels to ensure that it has adopted all necessary EU rules into its legislation. The country must also demonstrate its ability to meet economic and political requirements while subscribing to political, economic, and monetary union objectives. Financial aid is available at this stage to help implement institutional reforms.

• Treaty Signing: Once negotiations are complete, both parties sign an accession treaty. If any member state opposes accession at this point then it will not happen.

Membership Timeline

• The length of time it takes for a country to join varies but typically takes several years; Hungary took ten years while Croatia took twelve years before they became members.

• North Macedonia and Albania officially entered the pre-accession phase on July 18, 2022.

Membership Status

• Once the accession treaty is ratified, the candidate country becomes a member of the EU.