Passports of European Union candidate states

Nationals of the candidate countries have varying visa arrangements with the Schengen Area and the Common Travel Area members, as well as with the United States and Canada. The following table details the requirements:

State	Current candidate status	Schengen Area Annex II[7]	Common Travel Area[8] UK and Ireland	USA – ESTA[9]	Canada
Albania[10]	Candidate	90 days per 1/2-year[7]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
Montenegro[11]	Negotiating	90 days per 1/2-year[7]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
North Macedonia[12]	Candidate	90 days per 1/2-year[7]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
Serbia[13]	Negotiating	90 days per 1/2-year[7]	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED
Turkey[14]	Negotiating	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED	road map country	PRE-ARRIVAL VISA REQUIRED

  Member states

  Candidates: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey[15]

  Recognised by the EU as potential candidates which have not yet applied for membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo (status disputed).[16]

The enlargement of the European Union involves the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community (the EU's predecessor) in 1952. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-eight with the most recent expansion to Croatia in 2013.

Currently, accession negotiations are under way with several states. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration. This term is also used to refer to the intensification of co-operation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual harmonisation of national laws.

To join the European Union, a state needs to fulfil economic and political conditions called the Copenhagen criteria (after the Copenhagen summit in June 1993), which require a stable democratic government that respects the rule of law, and its corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the Maastricht Treaty, each current member state and the European Parliament must agree to any enlargement.

The present enlargement agenda of the European Union regards Turkey and the Western Balkans. Turkey has a long-standing application with the EU but the negotiations are expected to take many more years. As for the Western Balkan states, the EU had pledged to include them after their civil wars: in fact, two states have entered, three are candidates, one applied and the others have pre-accession agreements.

There are however other states in Europe which either seek membership or could potentially apply if their present foreign policy changes, or the EU gives a signal that they might now be included on the enlargement agenda. However, these are not formally part of the current agenda, which is already delayed due to bilateral disputes in the Balkans and difficulty in fully implementing the acquis communautaire (the accepted body of EU law).

Today the accession process follows a series of formal steps, from a pre-accession agreement to the ratification of the final accession treaty. These steps are primarily presided over by the European Commission (Enlargement Commissioner and DG Enlargement), but the actual negotiations are technically conducted between the Union's Member States and the candidate country.

Before a country applies for membership it typically signs an association agreement to help prepare the country for candidacy and eventual membership. Most countries do not meet the criteria to even begin negotiations before they apply, so they need many years to prepare for the process. An association agreement helps prepare for this first step.

In the case of the Western Balkans, a special process, the Stabilisation and Association Process exists to deal with the special circumstances there.

When a country formally applies for membership, the Council asks the Commission to prepare an opinion on the country's readiness to begin negotiations. The Council can then either accept or reject the Commission's opinion (The Council has only once rejected the Commission's opinion when the latter advised against opening negotiations with Greece).[17]

If the Council agrees to open negotiations the screening process then begins. The Commission and candidate country examine its laws and those of the EU and determine what differences exist. The Council then recommends opening negotiations on "chapters" of law that it feels there is sufficient common ground to have constructive negotiations. Negotiations are typically a matter of the candidate country convincing the EU that its laws and administrative capacity are sufficient to execute European law, which can be implemented as seen fit by the member states. Often this will involve time-lines before the Acquis Communautaire (European regulations, directives and standards) has to be fully implemented.

	State	Status	Association Agreement	Applied for Membership	Candidate status	Start of negotiations	Screening completed	Acquis Chapters open/closed[18]
	Albania	Candidate	12 June 2006 (SAA)	28 April 2009	23 June 2014	–	–	–
	Montenegro	Negotiating	15 October 2007 (SAA)	15 December 2008	17 December 2010	29 June 2012	–	30/3 of 33
	North Macedonia	Candidate	9 April 2001 (SAA)	22 March 2004	17 December 2005	–	–	–
	Serbia	Negotiating	29 April 2008 (SAA)	22 December 2009	1 March 2012	21 January 2014	21 January 2014	16/2 of 34
	Turkey	Negotiating	12 September 1963 (AA)	14 April 1987	12 December 1999	3 October 2005	13 October 2006	13/1 of 33

• 
  Albanian passport
  
• 
  { Montenegrin passport]
  
• 
  North Macedonia passport
  
• 
  Serbian passport
  
• 
  Turkish passport
  

• Future enlargement of the European Union
• Passports of the European Union
• Passports of the EFTA member states
• Schengen Area
• Common Travel Area
• Visa policy in the European Union
• United Kingdom visa requirements
• National identity cards in the European Economic Area
• European Economic Area
• European Free Trade Association
• United States visa
• Electronic System for Travel Authorization
• Visa policy of Canada
• List of passports

Wikimedia Commons has media related to European passports.

• European Passports in PRADO (The Council of the European Union Public Register of Authentic Travel and Identity Documents Online)