The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia wins candidate status

Now there are three candidate countries for European Union membership – Turkey and Croatia have been joined by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The summit of EU leaders in Brussels on December 15-16 granted the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia candidate status, in line with the November 9 recommendation from the European Commission, which has not proposed a date for the start of negotiations. Further steps including the opening of negotiations will have to be considered in the light of... Lire la Suite

Source :  European Commission

Now there are three candidate countries for European Union membership – Turkey and Croatia have been joined by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The summit of EU leaders in Brussels on December 15-16 granted the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia candidate status, in line with the November 9 recommendation from the European Commission, which has not proposed a date for the start of negotiations. Further steps including the opening of negotiations will have to be considered in the light of the debate on the enlargement strategy that the EU has scheduled for 2006. Other key factors include compliance with the Copenhagen political criteria and the requirements of the Stabilisation and Association Process, and further significant progress to respond to the other issues and criteria for membership that the EU has set out for the country. In addition, the absorption capacity of the Union also has to be taken into account. The European Council asked the Commission to report on developments in future progress reports. Note: Acceding Countries : Bulgaria and Romania Candidate Countries : Croatia, Turkey and Macedonia

Source :  European Commission