Press Release: Commission outlines next steps for EU enlargement

The European Commission recommends for a fourth time to open accession negotiations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It recommends granting EU candidate status to Albania subject to completion of key reform steps, and proposes negotiating a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Kosovo once it has made progress in fulfilling a number of short term priorities. The Commission also confirmed that Croatia is on track in its membership preparations. In a set of annual reports, the Commission also assesses the progress towards EU accession made elsewhere in the Western Balkans, Turkey, and Iceland over the past year.

• Primary Source

European Commission: Speech/12/717: Štefan Füle: Enlargement Package 2012 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-12-717_en.htm

European Commission: Speech/12/708: Štefan Füle: Enlargement Package 2012: Address to the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-12-708_en.htm

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