The enlargement process after Nice: A qualitatively new stage

At its meeting in Nice, in early December 2000, the European Council took 2 decisions that opened a qualitatively new stage in the ongoing enlargement process. Firstly, by concluding the inter-governmental conference on institutional reform, the European Council has honoured the commitment it had taken at Helsinki in December 1999, to ensure that the Union would be ready to welcome new Member States as of end 2002, as soon as they have fulfilled the accession criteria. Secondly, by endorsing the enlargement strategy put forward a few weeks earlier by the European Commission, the European Council has provided a clear mandate to move the accession process forward on that basis, and thus to significantly reinforce its momentum. This article will look more closely at the decisions taken at Nice, and at their significance for the enlargement process.