ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - Polymer Bank Notes of the World

1.3 DEVELOPMENTS IN AND RELATIONS WITH EUCANDIDATE COUNTRIESThe ECB continued its policy dialogue withthe central banks of the EU candidate countriesthrough bilateral meetings and within the overallinstitutional framework for the enlargementprocess set up by the EU.Accession negotiations with Croatia began inOctober 2005. Negotiations on the individualchapters of the acquis communautaire wereopened in June 2006 and advanced significantlyin the course of 2008. By the end of the year,negotiations had been opened on 21 chapters andprovisionally closed on 4. The ECB continuedits fruitful bilateral relations with the CroatianNational Bank, for example in the context ofthe high-level policy dialogue.After opening accession negotiations withTurkey in October 2005, the EuropeanCommission started negotiations on theindividual chapters of the acquis communautairein June 2006. In December 2006 the EuropeanCouncil decided to suspend talks for 8 out ofthe 35 chapters in the EU accession process,owing to the lack of progress in the extensionof the customs union to the EU Member States.The EU institutions are continuing to evaluatethe compatibility of Turkish legislation with theacquis communautaire and are making progresswith the opening of the other chapters. The ECBcontinued its long-standing high-level policydialogue with the Central Bank of the Republicof Turkey.Although the former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia was granted candidate status in 2005,it still needs to fulfil a number of institutionalcriteria before EU membership negotiations canstart, including some related to crucial areas ofpolitical reform. Staff level contacts betweenthe ECB and the National Bank of the Republicof Macedonia remained strong.176 ECBAnnual Report2008