During the past few years, the EU system of fundamental values has been under threat due to the rise of illiberal democracies, most notably Hungary and Poland. The tool which the EU has under its disposal to tackle such threat is the so-called ‘Nuclear Option’ specified in Article 7 of the Treaty on EU.

It, however, seems that the wider public is not fully aware how the procedure under Article 7 is supposed to function in practice, due to its complexity. Hence, the goal of this infographic is to explain what does Article 7 stand for and present the process of activating it, by providing a step-by-step illustration. Furthermore, the infographic shows what have been the issues of concerns in Hungary and Poland, as well as the current status of Article 7 procedure in those countries.

In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, while in 2017, it triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which sets the two-year timeframe for settling the divorce between the two. As no EU member state has withdrawn from the Union ever before, the negotiations have seen numerous challenges and unpredictable hurdles. What are the key issues of the negotiations? How have the negotiations developed so far? What happens after the negotiations are over? CEP’s new infographic provides illustrated answers to these questions.

2018 Assessment by the European Commission, which analyzes the results achieved between October 2016 and February 2018.

How does the country’s road to the EU begin? Which steps precede getting candidate status? Which is the last step before becoming a member of the Union?

Where are the Western Balkan countries on their path towards the EU? Which countries have candidate status and which (yet) don’t? Which countries have started accession negotiations and how many negotiating chapters they have opened?

In this CEP infographic, we present a comparative overview of progress and preparation for EU membership of Western Balkan countries.