Stabilisation and Association Agreement signed with Serbia

Serbia and the European Union signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement in Luxembourg on 29 April. As EU foreign ministers at the General Affairs and External Relations Council remarked, the signature marks "an important step on the country’s path towards the EU".

Two more chapters opened in Croatia’s accession talks

At the fifth ambassador-level meeting of the EU-Croatia accession conference, in Brussels on 21 April, talks were opened on two more of the 35 chapters that the EU rules have been broken down into for negotiation purposes - transport policy and energy.

EU holds troika talks with Turkey

The state of relations between the European Union and Turkey were discussed at a 6 May meeting in Ankara between Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet, and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.

Track record is what counts now for Albania

When the Prime Minister of Albania, Sali Berisha, came to Brussels on 5 May, he received compliments from European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and a clear reminder of the need to turn political decisions into action on the ground. Barroso noted that progress had been made in terms of political decisions, but only when it is possible to see those decisions implemented will it be possible to fix a date for Albania to be ready to apply for EU membership.

Bosnia and Herzegovina approaches Stabilisation and Association Agreement

EU foreign affairs ministers on 29 April welcomed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress in police reform. The recent adoption of two crucial new laws moves the country towards progress towards the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, they decided at their General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg.

Kosovo on the OSCE agenda too

Kosovo was one of the main agenda items at the meeting between the EU Troika and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on the margins of the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 28 April. The EU delegation was led by the President of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrij Rupel.

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia gets its visa roadmap

The EU roadmap on visa liberalisation for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was formally handed over to the country’s Foreign Minister Antonio Milošoski at a ceremony in Brussels on 8 May.

EU Presidency signs Montenegro readmission agreement

Dragutin Mate, Slovenian Minister of the Interior and President of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, met with Jusuf Kalamperovi, Montenegrin Minister of Interior Affairs and Public Administration, in Podgorica on 9 May to sign a protocol between Slovenia and Montenegro implementing the agreement between the EU and Montenegro on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation.

EU ministers back Western Balkans plans

The General Affairs and External Relations Council on 29 April welcomed the Commission’s Communication: "Western Balkans: enhancing the European perspective".

Rehn sees EU hopefuls facing crucial choices

Speaking at Oxford University on 1 May, just days before the Serbian elections, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the people of Serbia "face a concrete choice between two models in the parliamentary elections on 11 May".

Boosting the role of civil society in the enlargement countries

The conclusions of the civil society conference that took place in Brussels on 17-18 April noted that civil society organisations can play a more important role in the transformation of the candidate and potential candidate countries into European participatory democracies, with the rule of law more firmly rooted in the practice of democracy and governance at all levels.

How agriculture benefited from enlargement

"At the level of the farmer, there has been very good news", said Mariann Fischer Boel, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, in her opening remarks to a conference on ’Agriculture and food industry – four years after EU enlargement’, at the Warsaw School of Economics Warsaw on 5 May.

Enlargement website of the European Commission