Freeway -The enlargement of EU

The enlargement of EU

Sweden is in chairmanship of European union (EU) right now and one of the subjects is to enlarge the European union.
Many countries have applied for membership in the EU but who can be a member in EU and how?

All European countries have possibility to apply for membership in the European union, but only in certain conditions. At a summit in Copenhagen in June 1993, the European countries agreed about which demands that were going to be set in the countries which want to be a member in the European union.

They should have stabile institutions that can guarantee democracy, legal security, human rights and protection by minorities.
They should be working with market economies and have the ability to handle the competition and the marketforces which are within the European union.
They should be able to accept the duties that follow a membership and affiliate to the targets for the political and the financially union.

How?
When a country has submit the application about a membership in the European union, a process starts and it goes on for several years. First the country is judged. The country must fulfil the demands by the union. Then the commission reviews the country’s legal provisions, it’s called "screening". The country must conform their legal provisions after the union. Then the negotiations begin between the country and the union ambassadors. When the negotiations are done and the country can fulfil the demands, the country approves.
The European Union nowadays consists of fifteen member countries. The original six countries are Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Germany.
1973 Denmark, Ireland and Great Britain took place. 1981 Greece, 1986 Portugal and Spain and 1995 Finland, Sweden and Austria. Thirteen countries have been accepted as EU-members. These thirteen countries are called candidate countries. Twelve of these countries negotiate about EU-membership: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, Poland, Rumania, Slovakian, Slovenian, Chech republic and Hungary. Turkey is the thirteenth country.
EU consider that all the countries that want to join EU have to look over their human rights before they can start negotiating about membership.

Facts about EU
As you already now Sweden is in chairmanship of EU right now and we will be that for a period of six month.
The question is what can Sweden do during their time as presidency?
The Swedish government has decided to help countries to join the EU. Many things have been about technicalities: because all the candidates have to deal with difficult things like the farmpolitic, the free movement possibility for people and the guarding of the frontier.
The Swedish government has indicated to help some of these countries with some of these areas.
If you want to know more about what Sweden can do as the presidency of EU you can look at Jonas, Björn and Kristoffers articel.

sources: www.EU2001.se, epok, EU-upplysningen