This part of the Agenda 2000 communication is the composite paper on enlargement which the Commission was invited to prepare by the Madrid European Council. Its aim is to explain the way in which the Commission has examined the different applications for accession and the main questions they raise, as well as the timetable for opening negotiations which appears most realistic. It draws the main conclusions and recommendations from the opinions and presents the Commission’s views on launching the process of accession negotiations. It also tackles the horizontal questions linked to enlargement as well as the practical arrangements for the initial phase of the negotiations and the reinforcement of the pre-accession strategy as a whole.

These conclusions and recommendations are based on the criteria adopted by the European Council when it met in Copenhagen in June 1993:

"membership requires that the candidate country:

• has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities,

• the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union, and

• [has] the ability to take on the obligations of membership, including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union."