The European Council held in Copenhagen on 12-13 December 2002 set a date of 1 May 2004 for a total of 10 new Member States to join the EU. Accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania will continue with a view to them joining in 2007.
EU heads of state and government met in Copenhagen on 12-13 December 2002 for a European Council meeting to mark the end of the six-month Danish Presidency of the Council. One of the key topics of debate was the forthcoming enlargement of the EU to the east and the south. Accession negotiations with a total of 10 applicant countries are now completed - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. A date of 1 May 2004 has now been set for these countries to become EU Member States. This means that the EU will enlarge from 15 to 25 Member States on 1 May 2004.
An accession treaty will now be drafted, which will be submitted to the European Commission for its opinion, to the European Parliament for its assent and to the Council, with a view to signing it on 16 April 2003. The 10 new Member States will participate in the EU’s institutions from May 2004. They will also participate fully in the next Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which will decide on future reform of the institutions and processes of the EU.
Although Cyprus will be admitted as a new EU Member State, the European Council has stated its 'strong preference' for a united Cyprus to accede to the EU. It therefore welcomes the commitments of the Greek and Turkish governments to aim to negotiate a solution to what the European Council terms the 'Cyprus problem' by 28 February 2003.
Accession negotiations are continuing between the EU and Bulgaria and Romania, with the aim of these two countries joining the EU in 2007. As matters stand, they will participate in the next IGC as observers.
In the case of Turkey, which has also applied for membership of the EU, the European Council stated that accession negotiations may begin from December 2004 if the Council, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the Commission, decides that Turkey fulfils the political criteria set out in Copenhagen in 1993.