Summary and Background
3.The Act relates to the Treaty concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union, signed in Athens on 16 April 2003 (“the Accession Treaty”).
4.The Accession Treaty provides for the accession of the ten new Member States (as above) to the European Union on 1 May 2004. The Treaty falls into three parts: (a) a Treaty between the fifteen existing and the ten new Member States, (b) an Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded (“the Act of Accession”), and (c) the Final Act of the parties to the Treaty.
5.The Government presented the Accession Treaty to Parliament as a Command Paper (Cm 5805) published by the Stationery Office. Alongside that, it submitted an Explanatory Memorandum, which summarises and analyses the contents of the Treaty. Copies of the Explanatory Memorandum can be found on the website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: www.fco.gov.uk.
6.The Act does two things. First, it enables the Accession Treaty to be implemented in UK law, and approves the provisions of the Accession Treaty insofar as they relate to the powers of the European Parliament. Secondly, it provides a power to grant nationals of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (“the eight relevant states”) the same rights to work in the UK from 1 May 2004 as are enjoyed by nationals of the states in the European Economic Area (EEA)(1).