KEY ACTORS IN THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS

The key actors involved in the accession process are the EU institutions, Member States and candidate countries assuming different roles and carrying out tasks, which
interact with and complement each other. Political and strategic decisions are taken at the Intergovernmental Conference, which consists of the foreign ministers of
Member States and candidate countries.

The European Commission is responsible for conducting relations with candidate countries throughout the accession process, carrying out the screening process
in close cooperation with the bureaucrats of the candidate countries, preparing the Accession Partnership Documents, providing the necessary material for the
European Council, the coordination of the technical issues in relation to the negotiations and drafting the necessary legal documents. The Commission, when
deemed necessary, may establish informal contacts with the candidate country officials and present recommendations to facilitate the implementation of the
Community Acquis in the candidate country. Also, the Commission acts as a bridge between the candidate countries and the Member States and generally establishes
contacts with the Member States to ensure that demands of the candidate countries are taken into account and their interests are safeguarded. Behind-the-scenes
work is conducted to a large extent by the Commission. In this respect, the Commission puts much effort into reaching a consensus between candidate countries and
Member States through bilateral meetings, exchange of opinions and documents, and aims to reduce the number of issues that are likely to be debated in Brussels.

Another assigned task of the Commission in this process is to draft the EU negotiating position documents with the contribution of the EU Presidency. Additionally, the
Commission, by presenting the annual progress reports, evaluates the progress made by each candidate country in terms of alignment with the Community Acquis and
assesses whether the assumed obligations are fulfilled.

The European Council and the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) : The accession negotiations are of a complex nature, which can be defined as being
multilaterally and bilaterally as well as inter-governmentally. The negotiations that take place between the Member States and the candidate country are distinctly
intergovernmental, but at the same time bilateral owing to the fact that they are carried out between the candidate country and the Union. On the other hand,
multilateral talks are only carried out in the meetings scheduled at the beginning of the screening stage, whereby the Commission presents the Acquis to all the
candidate countries and consequently the screening process continues between the Commission and the candidate country.

The negotiations are conducted at two levels. Following the decision to start negotiations, an Intergovernmental Conference is organised for each candidate
country. Main positions and strategies are set out and political issues are handled at the Intergovernmental Conferences, which take place with the participation
of foreign ministers of Member States and candidate countries. The “real” negotiations conducted at the technical level occur between the Committee of
Permanent Representatives of the Member States (COREPER) and the negotiation teams headed by the chief negotiator of the candidate country.

The IGC is the platform where all issues related to enlargement process are addressed and decided upon. As such, it is the main instrument of political dialogue
between candidate countries and Member States in the negotiations. In this framework, the IGC presents the opportunity for the candidate countries and Member
States to voice their opinions and to discuss about problems related to the negotiations. Since the IGC by its very nature is a platform, where views as many and as
diverse as the participants themselves can be expressed, the fact that the political dimension of the negotiations is discussed at the IGC renders it difficult.

Furthermore, decisions concerning the start of the negotiation process, the opening and provisional closure of the chapters are taken at the IGC unanimously.

Common draft positions of Member States prepared by the Commission are first discussed in the Enlargement Working Group of the Council, which are then submitted
to the Council for final approval. The Foreign Minister or the permanent representative of the country holding the EU Presidency conducts the negotiations and the
Council Secretariat provides the secretarial services.

The European Parliament (EP) participates in this process by adopting positions and submitting opinions through specific reports prepared for candidate countries.
Since the EP is also responsible for the approval of the EU budget, it assumes an important role in the financial aspect of the enlargement. The EP approves the
Accession Treaty with simple majority voting. The European Commission ensures that the Parliament closely monitors this process by keeping it informed at all stages
of the negotiations.

The Member States are represented at the IGC, where major political decisions are taken by their foreign ministers and in the technical negotiations by their
permanent representatives to the EU. The Member States establish the necessary administrative and institutional structures for the negotiations process and carry out
the relevant work on each Acquis chapter. In consultation with the opposition parties, local administrations, social parties and the non-governmental organisations,
they finalise the draft negotiating positions and reflect their opinions to the process through their permanent representatives in Brussels. The common positions based
on the Commission recommendations and shaped by the contribution of the Member States are adopted with unanimity at the General Affairs and External Relations
Council (GAERC) of the EU, which consists of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of all Member States. The Member States assume critical role through the
Intergovernmental Conference, where political decisions such as opening and closing of negotiation chapters are taken unanimously, and sign the Accession Treaty at
the final stage.

On the other hand, the national parliaments of the Member States closely monitor the enlargement process through the committees set up for this purpose and
become involved in the process through reports. Consequently, they approve the Accession Treaty once the negotiations are concluded and the consent of both the EP
and the Council is obtained.

STAGES OF THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS