The Duke of Montrose – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Duke of Montrose on 2014-04-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any countries have outstanding applications for membership of the European Union and which they are; how many countries having applied are pending recognition that they have reached the level of compliance required under Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union; and whether any precedence will be given to applicants based on the date when they are recognised as having reached the compliance criteria.

Baroness Warsi

Five countries currently have the status of a ‘candidate’ for membership of the EU. Of these, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are currently in accession negotiations. Iceland has suspended its accession negotiations. Macedonia is a candidate country but has not yet opened accession negotiations. Negotiations are opened on the basis that countries have achieved a high degree of compliance with the membership criteria, including respect for the values referred to in Article 2 Treaty on EU (TEU).

Albania has also submitted an application for EU membership. It did this in 2009. The Council is considering Albania’s application in light of assessments prepared by the Commission.

Each aspiring country’s progress towards the European Union depends on its individual efforts to comply fully with the Copenhagen criteria for accession and broader enlargement conditionality. No precedence is given to applicants based on the date they have been recognised as having reached the criteria for opening accession negotiations.

The UK continues to be a strong supporter of enlargement based on firm-but-fair conditionality. Countries should proceed strictly on merit, with full adherence to the necessary conditionality before accession.