European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement
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The Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement is the member of the European Commission in charge of overseeing the accession process of prospective new member states and relations with those bordering the European Union (EU). The present Commissioner, as of December 2019, is Olivér Várhelyi.
Currently there are eight candidate countries, namely
Rehn
As Commissioner, Rehn has been involved with the enlargement to the western Balkans and Turkey, encouraging reform on those countries. 2006 saw the independence of Montenegro and separate accession talks starting with them.
In 2007 he welcomed the UN proposal on Kosovo by Martti Ahtisaari which advocated near-independence to the region and would have seen separate accession negotiations with the Union.
The Commissioner has also been involved in the
Füle
List of commissioners
The enlargement portfolio began to be created out of the regionalised foreign policy posts. In particular the Santer Commission post for relations with central and eastern Europe as those countries began applying to join. The Neighbourhood Policy element was created in 2004 as part of the External Relations portfolio. When that portfolio was absorbed by the High Representative in 2009, Neighbourhood Policy was transferred to Trade and then to Enlargement in 2010 under the Second Barroso Commission.
Commissioner | Country | Period | Party | Commission | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Günter Verheugen | Germany | 1999–2004
|
PES | Prodi Commission | ||
Janez Potočnik | Slovenia | 2004
|
ALDE | Prodi Commission | ||
Olli Rehn | Finland | 2004–2010
|
ALDE | Barroso Commission | ||
Štefan Füle | Czech Republic | 2010–2014
|
PES | Barroso Commission | ||
Johannes Hahn | Austria | 2014–2019
|
EPP | Juncker Commission | ||
Olivér Várhelyi | Hungary | 2019–present
|
EPP | Von der Leyen Commission |
See also
- Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations
- Enlargement of the European Union
- Foreign relations of the European Union
- European Union Association Agreement
- Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area
External links
- Commissioner Commissioners website
- Enlargement website
- Rehn warns of 'chaos' in Kosovo if UN plan fails Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
References
- ^ "EU membership, how to join, candidates| European Union". european-union.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ "European Council conclusions, 15 December 2022". European Council. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ "European Council conclusions, 23-24 June 2022". European Council. Retrieved 25 January 2023.