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TheCommunity acquis[1] oracquis communautaire (/ˈækiːkəˈmjuːnətɛər/;French:[aˌkikɔmynoˈtɛːʁ]),[2] sometimes called theEU acquis, and often shortened toacquis,[2] is the accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body ofEuropean Union law. The term is French, "acquis" meaning "that which has been acquired or obtained", and “communautaire” meaning "of the community".[3]
During the process of theenlargement of the European Union, the acquis was divided into 31 chapters for the purpose of negotiation between the EU and the candidate states for membership for the fifth enlargement (the ten that joined in 2004 plusRomania andBulgaria which joined in 2007).[4] These chapters were:
Beginning with the negotiations withCroatia (which joined in 2013), the acquis is split up into 35 chapters instead, with the purpose of better balancing between the chapters:[citation needed] (dividing the most difficult ones into separate chapters for easier negotiation, uniting some easier chapters, moving some policies between chapters, as well as renaming a few of them in the process)
Correspondence between chapters of the 5th and the 6th Enlargement:[citation needed]
| 5th Enlargement | 6th Enlargement |
|---|---|
| 1. Free movement of goods | 1. Free movement of goods |
| 7. Intellectual property law | |
| 2. Free movement of persons | 2. Freedom of movement for workers |
| 3. Right of establishment and freedom to provide services | |
| 3. Freedom to provide services | |
| 9. Financial services | |
| 4. Free movement of capital | 4. Free movement of capital |
| 5. Company law | 6. Company law |
| 6. Competition policy | 8. Competition policy |
| 5. Public procurement | |
| 7. Agriculture | 11. Agriculture and rural development |
| 12. Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy | |
| 8. Fisheries | 13. Fisheries |
| 9. Transport policy | 14. Transport policy |
| 21. Trans-European networks(one half of it) | |
| 10. Taxation | 16. Taxation |
| 11. Economic and Monetary Union | 17. Economic and monetary policy |
| 12. Statistics | 18. Statistics |
| 13. Social policy and employment | 19. Social policy and employment (including anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for women and men) |
| 14. Energy | 15. Energy |
| 21. Trans-European networks(one half of it) | |
| 15. Industrial policy | 20. Enterprise and industrial policy |
| 16. Small and medium-sized enterprises | |
| 17. Science and research | 25. Science and research |
| 18. Education and training | 26. Education and culture 10. Information society and media |
| 19. Telecommunication and information technologies | |
| 20. Culture and audio-visual policy | |
| 21. Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments | 22. Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments |
| 22. Environment | 27. Environment |
| 23. Consumer and health protection | 28. Consumer and health protection |
| 24. Cooperation in the field of Justice and Home Affairs | 23. Judiciary and fundamental rights |
| 24. Justice, freedom and security | |
| 25. Customs union | 29. Customs union |
| 26. External relations | 30. External relations |
| 27. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) | 31. Foreign, security and defence policy |
| 28. Financial control | 32. Financial control |
| 29. Financial and budgetary provisions | 33. Financial and budgetary provisions |
| 30. Institutions | 34. Institutions |
| 31. Others | 35. Other issues |
Such negotiations usually involved agreeing transitional periods before new member states needed to implement the laws of the European Union fully and before they and their citizens acquired full rights under theacquis.
The termacquis is also used to describe laws adopted under theSchengen Agreement, prior to its integration into the European Union legal order by theTreaty of Amsterdam, in which case one speaks of theSchengen acquis.[2][5][6] In relation to consumer law and consumer protection, the phrase "consumeracquis" is also used.[7]
The termacquis has been borrowed by theWorld Trade Organization Appellate Body, in the caseJapan – Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages, to refer to the accumulation ofGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and WTO law ("acquis gattien"), though this usage is not well established.[citation needed]
It has been used to describe the achievements of theCouncil of Europe (an international organisation unconnected with the European Union):[8]
The Council of Europe'sacquis in standard setting activities in the fields of democracy, therule of law and fundamental human rights and freedoms should be considered as milestones towards the European political project, and theEuropean Court of Human Rights should be recognised as the pre-eminent judicial pillar of any future architecture.
It has also been applied to the body of "principles, norms and commitments" of theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE):[9]
Another question under debate has been how the Partners and others could implement the OSCE acquis, in other words its principles, norms, and commitments on a voluntary basis.
TheOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) introduced the concept of the OECD Acquis in its "Strategy for enlargement and outreach", May 2004.[10]
