| dc.description.abstract | In Agenda 2000, the Commission said it would report regularly to the European Councilon progress made by each of the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe inpreparations for membership, and that it would submit its first report at the end of 1998.The European Council in Luxembourg decided that:“From the end of 1998, the Commission will make regular reports to the Council,together with any necessary recommendations for opening bilateral intergovernmentalconferences, reviewing the progress of each Central and Eastern European applicant Statetowards accession in the light of the Copenhagen criteria, in particular the rate at which itis adopting the Unionacquis” ... “The Commission’s reports will serve as the basis fortaking, in the Council context, the necessary decisions on the conduct of the accessionnegotiations or their extension to other applicants. In that context, the Commission willcontinue to follow the method adopted by Agenda 2000 in evaluating applicant States’ability to meet the economic criteria and fulfil the obligations deriving from accession.”On this basis, the Commission presented a first series of regular reports in October 1998,with a view to the Vienna European Council; a second series was adopted in October1999, with a view to the Helsinki European Council. The Helsinki European Councilnoted that the next regular reports would be presented in good time before the EuropeanCouncil in December 2000. |
