Acquis Communautaire or Community acquis
- Posted on: 12.03.2012
- Abbreviation: Acquis
Website: Link
Acquis communautaire is a French term meaning, essentially "the EU as it is" - in other words, it is the body of common rights and obligations which bind all Member States together with the European Union. The acquis includes all the EU's treaties and laws, delcarations and resolutions, international agreements on EU affairs and the judgments given by the Court of Justice. Applicant countries have to accept the Community acquis before they can join the Union, which means taking the EU as you find it. Candidate countries have to accept the acquis before they can join the EU, and make EU law part of their own national legislation. During this process the acquis is devided into chapters which are negotiated between the European Union and the candidate member states. For example 35 chapters were negotiated for the accession of Croatia and other Western Balkan countries:
- Free movement of goods
- Freedom of movement for workers
- Right of establishment and freedom to provide services
- Free movement of capital
- Public procurement
- Company law
- Intellectual property law
- Competition policy
- Financial services
- Information society and media
- Agriculture and rural development
- Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy
- Fisheries
- Transport policy
- Energy
- Taxation
- Economic and monetary policy
- Statistics
- Social policy and employment (including anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for women and men)
- Enterprise and industrial policy
- Trans-European networks
- Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments
- Judiciary and fundamental rights
- Justice, freedom and security
- Science and research
- Education and culture
- Environment
- Consumer and health protection
- Customs union
- External relations
- Foreign, security and defence policy
- Financial control
- Financial and budgetary provisions
- Institutions
- Other issues
