The Helsinki European Council of December 1999 granted the status of candidate country to Turkey. European Council of December 2004 confirmed that Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria which are a prerequisite for opening of the accession negotiations with Turkey.
As agreed at the European Council in December 2004, accession negotiations have been launched on October 3, 2005 with the adoption of the Negotiation Framework by the Council of the European Union. "Negotiation Framework Document" takes account of the experience of fifth enlargement process and of the evolving acquis. The framework includes the principles governing the negotiations, the substance of negotiations, negotiating procedures and list of negotiation chapter headings.
