Since the creation of the European Union its purpose has been to unite the European continent into one cohesive organization. In order for this goal to be fully realized all European nations must be included under this conglomeration of states. Unfortunately the process is not quite so simple. It takes years of careful evaluation of numerous factors most importantly including economic status, respect for international law and basic human rights, and military status amongst other numerous yet equally important facts. Before a state can be admitted it must first be determined that by admitting the state that it will have a generally good affect on the community as a whole and not simply benefit any single nation. Political orientation also plays a large role in deciding whether or not to accept a nation, since the organization was partially founded on the idea of "self determination". After taking into consideration all these facts it is easy to see why it takes so long to approve a state for membership within the EU. Any hastily made decisions could quite easily have long lasting socio-economic impacts on other members of the union and make them weary to admit new members. Now with the 2002 deadline to convert all funds to one European currency (the eurodollar), it is seen as being more important than ever before to be 100% sure of a nations stability. Another question before the committee is whether or not a given nation will be able to perform the duties, which it is required to under the European Union.
             The EU has shown through numerous meetings and treaties that in order to most efficiently integrate all European nations into one European community that the tasks for applicant nations be made clear from the start of negotiations. That is why the Copenhagen European Council defined the criteria, which applicants would have to meet before they could join the Community. These criteria concern, "the stability of inst...