EU accession glossary
The key terms in EU enlargement, in plain language — what they mean and why they matter on a country's path to membership.
- Acquis (acquis communautaire)
- The entire body of EU law, rights and obligations. A candidate country must adopt and implement all of it — divided into 35 chapters — before it can join.
- Negotiation clusters
- The six thematic groups the 35 negotiation chapters are organised into. A cluster is opened as a whole by the unanimous agreement of all 27 EU member states.
- Negotiation chapters
- The 35 policy areas the acquis is split into — from the judiciary to agriculture to the environment. Each is negotiated and provisionally closed one by one, also by unanimity.
- Screening
- The European Commission's chapter-by-chapter review of how far a candidate's laws already align with the acquis. It precedes the opening of negotiations.
- Copenhagen criteria
- The conditions for EU membership agreed in 1993: stable institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of law, a functioning market economy, and the capacity to take on the obligations of membership.
- Candidate status
- The European Council's official recognition that a country is a candidate for EU membership — a political milestone that comes before accession negotiations open.
- Fundamentals (Cluster 1)
- The first cluster — rule of law, democratic institutions, public administration and fundamental rights. It opens first and closes last, and its pace sets the pace of the whole negotiation.
- Accession treaty
- The treaty signed once negotiations conclude. A country becomes an EU member only after every member state and the European Parliament ratify it and it enters into force.