THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Towards a new legislative term

27 Ever since six European countries signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957 which created the European Economic Community, this or its successor, the European Union, has been enlarged seven times. Sometimes this involved just one country, such as the last addition so far, Croatia, in 2013; others have been for two or three countries; and the most important, in 2004, when ten new States were accepted, mainly from Central or Eastern Europe, totalling 28 members, that became 27 when the United Kingdom left in 2020, as the only country to ever do so. According to article 49 of the Treaty on the Euro- pean Union (TEU), any European State that respects the democratic values mentioned in the article 2, and that commits to promoting them, can apply to become a member of the Union. When a new country requests to join the EU, the European Council, based on a Com- mission report, decides whether to accept the candidacy and opens negotiations. The new member may join the EU if these negotiations are successful, and its candida- cy is approved by all States already part of the Union. In June 1993, the European Council agreed on the criteria required to make a candidacy feasible, known as the Co- penhagen criteria, named after the city where the meet- ing took place. These criteria are a stable democracy, Rule of Law, a working market economy and acceptance of all EU legislation, including the Euro. Although negotiations with each candidate are ex- haustive – including the 35 chapters of acquis that must be completed and approved individually – some new Member States have caused certain political or eco- nomic problems for the rest since they joined the Union. When Greece required a financial bailout in 2010, some member states accused Athens of hiding its real finan- cial situation before joining the EU. As for Bulgaria and Romania, which joined in 2007, problems arose due to corruption issues and administration deficiencies. Some new members in 2004, such as Poland and Hungary, find it hard to respect the rule of law and the division of power, as conceived by the other members and the com- mon organisations, including the EU Commission and the Court of Justice, to the point that Poland has been hit by economic sanctions for not respecting judicial in- dependence and Hungary for violating the rule of law. In another area, Hungary has significantly distanced it- self from EU politics regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the consequent sanctions imposed on Rus- sia, somewhat damaging the cohesion of the common position, otherwise solid on this matter. Some European States – either full members or can- didates – are highly interested in the economic aspects of the Union, which attempt to draw weaker economies closer to more prosperous ones, although not so inter- ested in politics, as they consider that this meddles with their own sovereignty. The Copenhagen criteria require- ment to accept all community legislation includes article 1 of the TEU which points towards an increasingly closer union between the peoples of Europe. Furthermore, this is not just about the economy. New members joining the EU should not only share the democratic principles but also the political goals of European integration. Perspectives for future enlargements of the Union José Enrique de Ayala