Scorecard 2024 - What the Commission assessments reveal

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EU preparedness – where countries are

Each year the European Commission assesses 33 policy areas – laws, institutions, policy implementation – into which the accession negotiations are divided. It does so for 10 countries which aspire to join the EU. Since 2015, it has established a lot of credibility through its tough objective assessments.

These assessments concern the heart of Europeanisation. Without being prepared in these sectors/chapters – with laws and institutions in place and a track record of implementation – barriers between the EU Single Market and these countries cannot be lifted. Lifting barriers after successful reforms, on the other hand, has an immediate effect on economies. It boosts investment and drives convergence. Deepening economic and institutional integration based on the rule of law also makes future armed conflicts among countries unthinkable.

The European Commission published its most recent assessments on 30 October 2024. The Commission assesses each policy area (or chapter) using five degrees of preparedness:

Early stage
Some level of preparation
Moderately prepared
Good level of preparation
Well advanced

ESI has taken these assessments and allocated a grade to each degree of preparedness: from 0 for the worst grade (“early stage”) to 4 for the best (“well advanced”).

In this paper – to make the Commission reports readable – we add the colours red (limited preparation), yellow (moderate preparation) and green (good preparation).

What does it mean to “meet EU standards”? In the case of Montenegro and Serbia the Commission has proposed to “close” some chapters provisionally once a “good level of preparation” (3) has been reached. It is wise to assume that to join the EU – or to join its Single Market even before – countries must reach a good level of preparation in each chapter: at least grade 3 in 33 chapters: a score of at least 99.