| Conventional Long Name: | European Union candidate states |
| Linking Name: | the European Union candidate states |
| Membership Type: | Candidate states |
| Area Km2: | 1,617,711 |
See main article: Passports of the European Union. Since the 1980s, member states of the European Union have started to harmonise aspects of the designs of their ordinary passports (but not other types of passports, such as diplomatic, service and emergency passports), as well as common security features and biometrics.
Most passports issued by EU member states have the common recommended layout; burgundy in colour with the words "European Union" accompanied by the name of the issuing member state printed on the cover.[1]
Information on the cover, in this order, in the language(s) of the issuing state:
Information on the first page, in one or more of the languages:
Information on the (possibly laminated) identification page, in the languages of the issuing state plus English and French:
| 1. Surname | 2. Forename(s) | |
| 3. Nationality | 4. Date of birth | |
| 5. Sex | 6. Place of birth | |
| 7. Date of issue | 8. Date of expiry | |
| 9. Authority | 10. Signature of holder |
Optional information on the following page:
| 11. Residence | 12. Height |
| 13. Colour of eyes | 14. Extension of the passport |
| 15. Name at birth (if now using married name or have legally changed names) |
| Candidate state | Passport cover | Visa requirements | Cost | Validity | Issuing authority | Latest version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albania |
|
| Ministry of the Interior | 2015 | ||
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 October 2014 | |||||
 Georgia |
| Ministry of Justice | 10 April 2010 | |||
| Moldova |
|
| Public Services Agency[4] | 5 April 2023 | ||
 Montenegro |
|
| Ministry of the Interior[5] | 2008 | ||
| North Macedonia |
| Ministry of the Interior[6] | 2019 | |||
 Serbia |
| Ministry of the Interior[8] | 13 May 2016 | |||
 Turkey |
|
| Ministry of the Interior[9] | 25 August 2022 | ||
 Ukraine |
|
| State Migration Service of Ukraine | 1 January 2016 | ||
Nationals of the candidate countries have varying visa arrangements with the Schengen Area and the Common Travel Area members, as well as with the United States and Canada. The following table details the requirements:
| width=120 | State | Current candidate status | Schengen Area Annex II[10] | Common Travel Area[11] | United Kingdom visa requirements UK and Ireland | USA – ESTA[12] | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [13] | Negotiating | ||||||
| [14] | Negotiating | ||||||
| Georgia | Not negotiating yet | ||||||
| [15] | Negotiating | ||||||
| [16] | Negotiating | ||||||
| [17] | Negotiating | ||||||
| [18] | Negotiating | ||||||
| [19] | Negotiating | ||||||
| [20] | Negotiating | ||||||
See main article: Enlargement of the European Union.
The enlargement of the European Union involves the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community (the EU's predecessor) in 1952. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-seven with the most recent expansion to Croatia in 2013 and the departure of UK in 2020.
Currently, accession negotiations are under way with several states. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration. This term is also used to refer to the intensification of co-operation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual harmonisation of national laws.
To join the European Union, a state needs to fulfil economic and political conditions called the Copenhagen criteria (after the Copenhagen summit in June 1993), which require a stable democratic government that respects the rule of law, and its corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the Maastricht Treaty, each current member state and the European Parliament must agree to any enlargement.
The present enlargement agenda of the European Union regards Ukraine, the Western Balkans and potentially Turkey, which has a long-standing application with the EU. As for the Western Balkan states, the EU had pledged to include them after their civil wars: in fact, two states have entered, three are candidates, one applied and the others have pre-accession agreements.
There are however other states in Europe which either seek membership or could potentially apply if their present foreign policy changes, or the EU gives a signal that they might now be included on the enlargement agenda. However, these are not formally part of the current agenda, which is already delayed due to bilateral disputes in the Balkans and difficulty in fully implementing the acquis communautaire (the accepted body of EU law).
Today the accession process follows a series of formal steps, from a pre-accession agreement to the ratification of the final accession treaty. These steps are primarily presided over by the European Commission (Enlargement Commissioner and DG Enlargement), but the actual negotiations are technically conducted between the Union's Member States and the candidate country.
Before a country applies for membership it typically signs an association agreement to help prepare the country for candidacy and eventual membership. Most countries do not meet the criteria to even begin negotiations before they apply, so they need many years to prepare for the process. An association agreement helps prepare for this first step.
In the case of the Western Balkans, a special process, the Stabilisation and Association Process exists to deal with the special circumstances there.
When a country formally applies for membership, the Council asks the commission to prepare an opinion on the country's readiness to begin negotiations. The council can then either accept or reject the commission's opinion (the council has only once rejected the commission's opinion when the latter advised against opening negotiations with Greece).[21]
If the council agrees to open negotiations the screening process then begins. The commission and candidate country examine its laws and those of the EU and determine what differences exist. The Council then recommends opening negotiations on "chapters" of law that it feels there is sufficient common ground to have constructive negotiations. Negotiations are typically a matter of the candidate country convincing the EU that its laws and administrative capacity are sufficient to execute European law, which can be implemented as seen fit by the member states. Often this will involve time-lines before the Acquis Communautaire (European regulations, directives and standards) has to be fully implemented.
| State | Status | Association Agreement | Applied for Membership | Candidate status | Start of negotiations | Screening completed | Acquis Chapters open/closed[22] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | (SAA) | – | – | ||||||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | (SAA) | – | – | – | |||||
| Georgia | Candidate | 1 July 2016 (AA) | 3 March 2022 | 14 December 2023 | – | – | – | |
| Moldova | (AA) | 14 December 2023 | – | – | |||||
| Montenegro | (SAA) | 30/3 of 33 | ||||||
| North Macedonia | (SAA) | – | – | ||||||
| Serbia | (SAA) | 16/2 of 34 | |||||||
| Turkey | (AA) | 16/1 of 33 | |||||||
| Ukraine | (AA) | 14 December 2023 | – | – |