Comprehensive monitoring report on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania. Impact assessment. Commission staff working document annexed to the communication

Abstract

Enlargement policy is outside the realm of the Commission’s right of initiative and therefore not a policy which the Commission can, strictly speaking, propose on the basis of policy options and impact assessments. The Treaty on European Union and the Copenhagen criteria set the framework for the entire enlargement process and narrow down the assessment criteria that can be used to assess present or future impacts of the implementation of this policy. The Copenhagen criteria laid down in 1993 define the requirements for accession in the political and economic spheres and in relation to the adoption and implementation of the EU acquis, i.e. the body of EU law.