MEĐUNARODNO-PRAVNI ASPEKTI ŠIRENJA EVROPSKE UNIJE
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ENLARGEMENT

Summary/Abstract: The enlargement of the European Union is a legal-political process which has lasted since the appearance of European communities in the 1950s till nowadays. The legal base of the expansion of the Union is defined by the founding acts of this organization, beginning with the Treaty of Rome all the way to the Treaty of Lisbon. The Treaty of Lisbon consigned all the properties of a constituent in the international legal system to the European Union and removed institutional obstacles preventing its enlargement. The enlargement policy through which the Union defines conditions and modes of its enlargement are presented in this paper. Association and accession are two essential phases in politics. Association as a legal relation, which is the first step of a European country gaining the membership in the EU, is especially analyzed. Association with the Union is accomplished via special type of international agreement – Association Agreement. An outline of three versions of these agreements that the EU has established so far is presented. Stabilization and Association Agreement, which is the essential instrument for the accession of the countries of the Western Balkans, is especially pointed out.

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