Other chapters

The chapters `Institutions' and `Other matters' have not yet been opened with any of the candidates. Following the road map, the Union should also define its positions on these chapters in the first half of 2002.

The institutions chapter concerns the inclusion of new Member States in the Union's institutional framework. As the Union emphasised at the opening of the accession negotiations, membership involves both rights and obligations. The Union expects new members to comply with the obligations of membership, subject to the conditions agreed in the accession negotiations. The new members will exercise their rights, on the same terms as other Member States, through participation in the EU institutions. Traditionally, the chapter `Institutions' has been handled in accession negotiations after all the other chapters relating to the acquis.

In the present negotiations, the chapter `Institutions' will be based principally on the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Conference at Nice in December 2000, and in particular on:

• the provisions set out in the Treaty of Nice, including particularly the dispositions for adjustment of the institutions in the perspective of enlargement;
• the provisions set out in the Declarations of the Intergovernmental Conference, including particularly Declaration no. 20 on the common positions to be adopted in the accession negotiations in matters relating to the distribution of seats in the Parliament, the weighting of votes in the Council, and the composition of the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

The conclusion of the new Treaty at Nice reaffirmed the Union's firm commitment to the enlargement process. It is now in the process of ratification by the Member States. The Commission notes that the Treaty has been ratified by three Member States and in most other cases ratification is proceeding satisfactorily. In the case of Ireland, following the referendum in June 2000, the Irish government is organising a national convention to clarify the issues related to the Treaty.

The Commission hopes that Member States will complete the process of ratification, as planned, in the course of 2002. The Commission will liaise with the Presidency concerning the appropriate timing and procedure to be envisaged for the institutional chapter, taking account of progress in the ratification of the Nice Treaty.

The final chapter of the negotiations, as in the case of previous accession negotiations is `Other matters'. This chapter serves as a framework for questions not covered in the preceding chapters - notably, problems which are not directly related to the acquis. In the preceding accession negotiations, for example, discussions under the chapter `Other matters' led to a number of declarations on transparency, the status of `certain territories', etc., which were subsequently annexed to the Accession Treaty. It will become clear in the course of 2002 what questions may need to be handled under this chapter in the present negotiations.

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