The eu Membership Criteria

The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a nation is eligible to join the European Union. The criteria require that a state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, a functioning market economy, and that the state accepts the obligations and intent of the EU. These membership criteria were laid down at the June 1993 European Council in Copenhagen, Denmark, from which they take their name.

The Copenhagen criteria are divided into three groups – geographic, political and economic.

• Geographic Criteria

The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht (Article 49) stated that any European country that respects the principles of the EU may apply to join.

• Political Criteria

  • Democracy

Functional democratic governance requires that all citizens of the country should be able to participate, on an equal basis in the political decision making at every single governing level. This also requires free elections, the right to establish political parties without any hindrance from the state, fair and equal access to a free press, free trade union organizations, etc.

• Rule of Law

The rule of law implies that government authority may only be exercised in accordance with written laws, which were adopted through an established procedure.

• Human Rights

Human rights are those rights which every person holds because of his quality as a human being. It means that the right cannot be bestowed, granted, limited, bartered away, or sold away. The United Nations declaration of Human Rights is considered the most authoritative formulation of human rights.

• Respect for and Protection of Minorities

Members of national minorities should be able to maintain their distinctive culture and practices, including their language without suffering any discrimination. It was agreed to define a national minority as a distinctive group, that forms the historic population or a significant historic and current minority in a well-defined area, and that maintains stable and friendly relations with the state in which it lives.

• Economic Criteria

The economic criteria, broadly speaking, require that the candidate countries have a functioning market economy and that their companies have the capability to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.

5. Check yourself: Achievement Test

I. Fill in the gaps 10 points

1. The EU is an economic and … union of … … states, located mainly in … .

2. The main objectives of the EU are … to … economic and social progress.

3. The EU was created after … to unite the nations of Europe …, so another war among them would be unthinkable.

4. The single currency is …, it was launched in … .

II Finish sentences: 10 points

1. The main aims of the EU are…

2. The results of the EU functioning are …

3. The European Parliament ...

4. The EU membership criteria include …

5. The EU symbols are …

III. Choose the markers of integration from the list of words. 13 points

a) common, independent, shared, economic, political, united, competitive, solidary, comparable;

b) to gain, to participate, to unify, to like, to consolidate, to strain, to join, to single out, to associate,

c) a team, a person, a people, information, a union, a function, a group, a cartoon.

IV. Call the country, using the code 5 points	V. Call the language of the country 5 points
a. GB – b. PL – c. D – d. LT – e. F –	a) Romania - b) Italy - c) Denmark - d) Sweden - e) Greece -

TOTAL: 43 points