The Copenhagen Criteria: 30 years on
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Copenhagen Criteria, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, H.E. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, in collaboration with Think Tank EUROPA, has the pleasure to invite you to a High-Level conference.
When will EU candidate countries be ready to enter the Union? And how shall the EU prepare itself to admit new members?
In 1993 the then-12 member states of the EU formulated a list of principles to answer these questions, known as the Copenhagen Criteria. 30 years later the criteria are now more relevant than in many years given a renewed momentum for EU’s enlargement. On 28 June we drew the lessons of history and looked forward to the next round of enlargement at the anniversary conference arranged with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A prominent number of ministers, diplomats and researchers from EU member states in the north, south, east and west as well as the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia participated in Eigtved's Pakhus (find the full program on the right-hand side).
All parties have a lot of work and difficult questions ahead of them before the EU can go from 27 states to 30+ members: Where candidate countries have to translate a large legislative complex into national frameworks and calibrate deeply rooted political cultures, the EU must find new balances on many fronts - from economic redistribution to institutional rules and democratic legitimacy.
There was consensus that another round of enlargement is decisive and that concrete debates about the future of the EU and the principles of enlargement must begin immediately - "history is calling us", as the Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said. But there was lively discussion about whether enlargement requires speed or patience, compromises or treaty changes. In this process personal relationships make a big difference, and thus the conference also helped to form bonds between the countries' representatives.
The day featured five panels and five keynote speakers, including Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olha Stefanishyna and director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics Luuk van Middelaar.