After halting Albania and N. Macedonia's.........>

EU: After halting Albania and N. Macedonia's accession talks, France proposes

new EU accession procedure in 'non-paper' circulated around other EU member

states.

- Would replace the process of candidate meeting all 35 chapters of 'acquis'

(rules and regs) then accession treaty being drawn up with 7-stage process with

"stringent conditions in order to effectively converge towards European norms

and standards". 

- Also includes "reversability", which would allow EU to walk away from

accession talks if the country in question is seen to backslide on reforms. 

- Debate still raging in EU and between member states. Accession could be the

next big point of contention within the bloc. 

- France more inclined to block further expansion until the EU has undergone

significant reform, while Germany supports allowing accession countries to

proceed in talks in order to provide a policy anchor.