any European State which respects the principles set out in Article 6(1) may apply to become a member of the Union. Such States are referred to as 'applicant States'.
The process of accession begins when a country submits a membership application to the Council presidency. If it agrees that the application has merit, the Council asks the Commission for an opinion, a thorough assessment of the likely political and economic implications (for the applicant and for the EU) of the applicant's membership. The Council may accept or reject the Commission's opinion. If the Council decides to proceed, the next step involves complicated negotiations between the member states and the applicant country, which also involve negotiations between the member states themselves over the terms of accession. The Commission acts as a broker in both sets of negotiations while always promoting what it considers to be the EU's best interests. If the accession negotiations end successfully - if the applicant and the Council (acting unanimously) accept the outcome of the negotiations - then the Council president, the Commission president, and a representative of the applicant country sign an accession treaty. This is not the end of the accession process, however, because the treaty must be ratified by the applicant country or countries, by the member states, and (since the Single European Act) by the European Parliament. Only when all parties have ratified the treaty may the applicant country join the EU.
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