Glossary of Institutions, policies and enlargement of the European Union
(Starting with "A")
©
European Communities, 1995-2007
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Abstention, constructive (positive
abstention)
Constructive abstention is the idea
of allowing a Member State to abstain on a vote in
Council under the common foreign and security policy
(CFSP), without blocking a unanimous decision.
This option was introduced by the
Treaty of Amsterdam in the new Article 23 of the Treaty
on European Union (EU Treaty). If abstention is accompanied
by a formal declaration, the Member State in question
is not obliged to apply the decision but must accept
that it commits the Union. The Member State must then
refrain from any action that might conflict with Union
action based on that decision.
In accordance with Article 23 of the
EU Treaty, the decision cannot be adopted if the members
of the Council attaching such a declaration to their
abstention represent more than one third of the weighted
votes.
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Accession
criteria (Copenhagen criteria)
Any country seeking membership of
the European Union (EU) must conform to the conditions
set out by Article 49 and the principles laid down
in Article 6(1) of the Treaty on European Union. Relevant
criteria were established by the Copenhagen European
Council in 1993 and strengthened by the Madrid European
Council in 1995.
To join the EU, a new Member State
must meet three criteria:
- political: stability of institutions
guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights
and respect for and protection of minorities;
- economic: existence of a functioning
market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive
pressure and market forces within the Union;
- acceptance of the Community acquis:
ability to take on the obligations of membership,
including adherence to the aims of political, economic
and monetary union.
For the European Council to decide
to open negotiations, the political criterion must
be satisfied.
Any country that wishes to join the
Union must meet the accession criteria. The pre-accession
strategy and accession negotiations provide the necessary
framework and instruments.
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Accession
negotiations
Accession negotiations are vital for
monitoring and helping candidate countries to prepare
for accession and for assessing how ready they are.
Each country is judged on its own merits from the
point of view of compliance with the accession criteria.
Negotiations help candidate countries to prepare to
fulfil the obligations of European Union membership.
They also allow the Union to prepare itself for enlargement
in terms of absorption capacity.
Negotiations relate to the adoption
and implementation of the Community acquis,
which is monitored by the Commission. The acquisis
divided into chapters, and there are as many chapters
as areas in which progress must be made. These areas
are identified by screening theacquis. The Technical
Assistance and Information Exchange programme (TAIEX)
plays a part here. Each chapter is negotiated individually,
and measurable reference criteria are defined for
the opening and closing of each chapter.
Negotiations take place at bilateral
intergovernmental conferences between the Member States
and the candidate country. Common negotiating positions
are defined for each of the chapters relating to matters
of Community competence.
The results of the negotiations (with
the outcome of political and economic dialogues) are
incorporated into a draft accession treaty, once the
negotiations on all chapters are closed. Where appropriate,
the system of transitional measures allows negotiations
to be concluded even if transposal of the acquis has
not been completed.
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Accession
of new Member States to the European Union
Accession of new Member States to
the European Union is governed by Article 49 of the
EU Treaty. A state that wishes to become a member
of the Union must satisfy two conditions:
- it must be a European state;
- it must respect the principles
of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law (Article
6(1) of the EU Treaty).
The Council must agree unanimously
on accession, after consulting the Commission and
receiving the assent of the European Parliament.
The conditions and date of accession,
any transition periods required and the adjustments
to the Treaties on which the Union is founded must
be agreed in the form of an accession treaty between
the candidate country and the Member States.
To give due form to the accession,
this treaty is ratified by all the Member States and
the candidate country in accordance with their own
constitutional rules.
In practice, accession is not automatic,
since it depends on the situation of the candidate
country concerned. There is thus a pre-accession period
of varying length, during which the candidate countries
adapt their institutions, standards and infrastructure
to enable them to meet their obligations as Member
States at the time of accession.
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Accession
partnership
Accession partnerships are a pre-accession
strategy instrument which determines the candidate
countries' particular needs on which pre-accession
assistance should be targeted and provides a framework
for:
- the short and medium-term priorities,
objectives and conditions determined for each candidate
country on the basis of the accession criteria (Copenhagen
criteria) in accordance with the Commission's opinion
on its membership application;
- pre-accession assistance.
An accession partnership is established
for each candidate country to provide guidance and
encouragement during preparations for membership.
To this end, each candidate country draws up a National
Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA), which
sets out a timetable for putting the partnership into
effect. Each candidate country also draws up an action
plan for strengthening its administrative and judicial
capacities.
The accession partnership may also
be revised in the light of new developments, especially
any new priorities identified during the pre-accession
process.
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Animal
welfare
The question of animal welfare was
first addressed in legislation in 1974. The requirements
in this area were acknowledged specifically in an
additional protocol attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam
(1997). This "Protocol on protection and welfare of
animals" lays down new rules for EU action in this
area. It officially recognises that animals are sentient
beings and obliges the European institutions to pay
full regard to the welfare requirements of animals
when formulating and implementing common policies.
European legislation in the field
of animal welfare aims to save animals from any unnecessary
suffering in three main areas: farming, transport
and slaughter. It is essential to take measures in
these areas not only for ethical and moral reasons,
but also for health of the animals and the quality
of foodstuffs. As part of a comprehensive strategy
on food safety, other Community policies (agriculture,
transport, internal market and research) are also
required to take account of this necessity.
At the start of 2006, the Commission
adopted a five-year action plan to reinforce existing
standards, extend research, put in place evaluation
and participation measures and promote animal welfare
at international level.
In cooperation with the competent
authorities of the Member States, the Food and Veterinary
Office (FVO) carries out on-the-spot checks to ensure
compliance with Community legislation. Its role has
grown since the enlargement of the EU to 27 Member
States.
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Antitrust
control
The term "antitrust" refers to competition
rules on agreements and business practices which restrict
competition and on abuse of dominant positions.
Agreements and concerted practices
which may restrict competition are prohibited by the
antitrust provisions of Article 81 of the Treaty establishing
the European Community (EC Treaty). The prohibition
applies to cartels (also referred to as "agreements")
and relates to situations in which competing businesses
collude to restrict competition, by fixing prices,
limiting production or sharing markets. Restrictive
agreements may nonetheless be permitted if they generate
more positive than negative effects (agreements improving
production, product distribution, contributing to
technical progress, etc.).
The Community antitrust rules also
forbid abuse of a dominant position within a market
(Article 82 of the EC Treaty). An undertaking is in
a dominant position when it has a substantial proportion
of a market and can evade normal competition on it.
It is then forbidden to make abusive use of its dominance,
e.g. by charging excessive or unduly low prices or
practising discrimination between commercial partners.
The Commission may impose large fines
on undertakings engaging in illegal business practices.
Since 1 May 2004, the updated Community
antitrust rules have allowed the national competition
authorities to enforce the Community rules on agreements
and dominance abuse in the same way as the Commission.
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Area
of freedom, security and justice
It was decided to establish an area
of freedom, security and justice, the aim being to
ensure genuine freedom of movement for individuals
on the territory of the European Union and more effective
action against organised crime and fraud.
Matters relating to justice and home
affairs used to be dealt with solely under the intergovernmental
rules, in particular under Title VI of the EU Treaty
(the "third pillar").
The Amsterdam Treaty "communitised"
asylum, immigration and judicial cooperation in civil
matters. It preserved the third pillar, now devoted
solely to police cooperation and judicial cooperation
in criminal matters. But all JHA matters are regrouped
under the general heading of the area of freedom,
security and justice.
The Constitution currently being ratified
introduces a major innovation: it abolishes the pillars
and communitises police cooperation and judicial cooperation
in criminal matters. The provisions on the area of
freedom, security and justice are in Part III, Title
III, Chapter IV. The Constitution fully preserves
the special opt-outs for the United Kingdom, Ireland
and Denmark.
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Article
36 Committee (Title VI of the EU Treaty)
The Committee provided for by Article
36 of the Treaty on European Union, also known as
CATS, is a Council working group.
The Committee is made up of senior
officials and its role is to coordinate the competent
working groups in the field of police and judicial
cooperation (third pillar). Its mission is also to
prepare the relevant work of the Permanent Representatives
Committee. The counterpart for issues on asylum and
immigration is the SCIFA (Strategic Committee for
Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum) which, unlike the
CATS, is a first-pillar working group.
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Assent
procedure
The assent procedure (Article 192
of the Treaty establishing the European Community)
was introduced by the European Single Act (1986).
It requires the Council to obtain the European Parliament's
assent before certain important decisions are taken.
The assent principle is based on a single reading.
Parliament may accept or reject a proposal but cannot
amend it. If Parliament does not give its assent,
the act in question cannot be adopted.
The assent procedure applies mainly
to the accession of new Member States (Article 49
of the Treaty on European Union), association agreements
and other fundamental agreements with third countries.
It is likewise required with regard
to citizenship, the specific tasks of the European
Central Bank (ECB), amendments to the Statutes of
the European System of Central Banks and the ECB,
the Structural and Cohesion Funds, and the uniform
procedure for elections to the European Parliament
(Article 190 of the EC Treaty).
Lastly, the European Parliament gives
its assent for the application of sanctions imposed
on a Member State for a serious and persistent breach
of fundamental rights (Article 7 of the EU Treaty)
and for closer cooperation in fields subject to the
codecision procedure.
Parliament's assent is given by a
majority of votes cast. However, a majority of Members
is also required in two cases, namely the accession
of a new Member State and the electoral procedure.
In order to simplify legislative procedures,
the European Constitution, currently being ratified,
includes the assent procedure, referred to as "consent",
under "special legislative procedures". This procedure
applies to European laws and framework laws.
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Audiovisual
The Community's audiovisual policy
must respect various — sometimes contradictory
— interests and priorities, such as competition
rules (especially regarding State aid), the principles
of public service or the enhancement of European culture.
The European audiovisual market is also facing a number
of problems, including:
- the language barriers preventing
free movement of programmes in Europe;
- an unwieldy decision-making process
which generally requires unanimity;
- the need to make considerable investment
to anticipate technological developments, which
requires international alliances and/or mergers.
The Community's action in the audiovisual
field has developed in two broad directions:
- on the legal front, the Television
without Frontiers (TWF) Directive, adopted in 1989
and amended in 1997, provided a harmonised framework
to promote the free movement, production and distribution
of European television programmes. Common rules
on advertising, sponsorship, protection of minors
and the right of reply were introduced. The Directive
also introduced broadcasting quotas, thus requiring
TV channels to reserve, whenever possible, more
than half their transmission time for European works.
The Directive is currently being revised
with a view to updating the existing rules and making
them more flexible.
- support schemes through the Community
MEDIA programme (Measures to Encourage the Development
of the Audiovisual Industry). Set up in 1991, this
programme aims to support the European audiovisual
industry by encouraging the development and distribution
of European works. It also finances schemes to improve
the training of professionals in the sector.
The programme currently in place is
MEDIA 2007, which has been allocated a budget of almost
EUR 755 million and is to cover the period 2007–2013.
The protection of minors and human
dignity in audiovisual and information services constitutes
another priority. In December 2006, the Council and
the European Parliament thus adopted a recommendation
aiming to encourage government authorities and stakeholders
to intensify their actions in this field.
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