European Commission: Strategy Paper and Report 2003

State of play

The accession negotiations are well advanced. Six countries have been negotiating since 1998 (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia), and six further countries entered negotiations in early 2000 (Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, and Slovakia). The European Council in Nice in December 2000 decided on a roadmap for the accession negotiations, which established a timeframe for the Union to define its position on outstanding negotiating chapters. The roadmap has been very useful in moving the negotiations forward, by helping all sides to follow a realistic plan. The Union has defined common positions in accordance with the roadmap, leading to provisional closure of a considerable number of chapters. The state of play of the negotiations is presented in Annex 6.