Ratified (2000) by all [then] 15 members of the European Union. The last country to ratify it was Ireland which had refused it the first time. This country accepted the Treaty during the second referendum the 19 october 2002 by 62.89%. The Treaty of Nice replaced the Treaty of Amsterdam: See details on Amsterdam Treaty.
This Treaty allowed the European Enlargement. On 9th October 2002, the Commission recommended to close negociations with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. The objective was that the first group of new members would join the EU in time for the elections to the European Parliament scheduled for June 2004 (find link above).
The following countries became officially members of the EU on 1st May 2004: Cyprus, Czech Rep., Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia & Slovenia.Three years later, Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union on January 1st 2007. The European Commission could have advised that they get the formal go-ahead on their May 2006 meeting. Instead it hesitated until a further review in the autumn of 2006 showed proper progress on reforms.
Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia have been accepted as candidates, but their acceptance as full members into the EU is not forecasted before 2008.| The European Union Constitution< Anterior | Siguiente >PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE A RIGHT TO INITIATE REFERENDUM |
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