Lord Grocott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grocott on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries have expressed an interest in applying for membership of the EU.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that any European State which respects its values and is committed to promoting them may apply to become a member of the Union. The Council currently recognises five candidates for EU membership: Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Serbia. Turkey, Montenegro and Serbia have started accession negotiations. Albania and Macedonia have Candidate Status but have not started accession negotiations. Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted its membership application on 15 February 2016. The General Affairs Council will revert to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application once it deems that sufficient progress in the implementation of the Reform Agenda has been achieved. Kosovo is recognised as a potential candidate and has signed and concluded a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU. Iceland started negotiations in 2013, but last year requested that it no longer be considered a candidate country.