community acquis

European Union

The community acquis is the body of common rights and obligations which bind all the member states together within the European Union. It is constantly evolving and comprises:

• The content, principles and political objectives of the Treaties.

• The legislation adopted in application of the Treaties and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

• The declarations and resolutions adopted by the EU.

• Measures relating to the common foreign and security policy.

• Measures relating to justice and home affairs.

• International agreements concluded by the EU and those concluded by the member states between themselves in the field of the EU's activities.

Therefore, the community acquis comprises not only community law in the strict sense. The EU has committed itself to maintaining the community acquis in its entirety and developing it further. candidate countries have to accept the community acquis before they can join the EU. Derogations from the acquis are granted only in exceptional circumstances and are limited in scope. To integrate into the EU, candidate countries have to transpose the acquis into their national legislation and implement it from the moment of their accession.