European Union – Copenhagen criteria
In 1993 the European Council at its session in Copenhagen formulated for the first time general political criteria for the states wishing to join the European Union. The so-called Copenhagen criteria included not only economic conditions (a functioning market economy) and legal conditions (adoption of the “acquis communautaire”), but also the political conditions of functioning democratic institutions, the protection of human rights and the protection of minorities. The political criteria were first introduced in the Treaty on European Union (TEU) in 1997 without the requirement to protect minorities, which were amended in the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 to include the protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities among the values of the Union (Article 2), which the acceding states must respect (Article 49). However, this does not impose any specific legal obligation on Member States, as there are no provisions on minority rights in EU law. During the accession negotiations the European Commission assesses the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria, including the protection of minorities, and formulates legislative and policy recommendations to the candidate countries. The minority protection condition, therefore, has practical relevance in the accession process. Becoming a member presupposes that the acceding state has fulfilled its obligations and respects the values set out in Article 2 of the TEU. This has led to accusations of double standards as EU member states have imposed requirements on candidate countries that they did not expect of themselves.