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Accession requires that candidates fulfil the conditions for membership, that is the political and economic criteria, and the ability to take on the obligations of membership. The Commission will give a favourable recommendation on the accession of a country if it is convinced that it will be able to meet the criteria by accession.
This year's Regular Reports and the present stage of the accession negotiations do not yet allow the Commission to conclude that the conditions for accession are fulfilled by any of the candidate countries. However, given the present pace of negotiations and the progress made so far, the Commission should be able to make recommendations on which candidate countries are ready for accession on the basis of its 2002 Regular Reports. Among the twelve negotiating countries, ten have target dates of accession compatible with the Göteborg timeframe.
The reforms still needed in each country are identified in this year's Regular Reports and revised Accession Partnerships. In its 2002 Regular Reports, the Commission will complement its assessment of progress made on the implementation of these remaining reforms with an evaluation of each country's track record since the Opinions. The Union should, thus, be prepared to conclude the accession negotiations by the end of the Danish Presidency in 2002 with countries meeting the necessary conditions and in view of their accession in 2004.
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