Skip to main content
European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR)

Accession negotiations

European Commission - Enlargement - Accession negotiations

Negotiations take place in intergovernmental conferences between member states and the candidate country. They relate to the conditions under which the country will be admitted to the EU and focus on the adoption and implementation of the EU's body of law (the acquis*).

The acquis is divided into a number of chapters*, each covering a specific policy area. Negotiations help candidate countries to prepare to fulfil the obligations of EU membership. They also allow the EU to prepare itself for enlargement in terms of integration capacity.*

The results of the negotiations are incorporated into a draft accession treaty, once the negotiations on all chapters have been closed.
For more details, see the following sections on our website: