On November 5, the European Commission adopted its enlargement strategy for 2008/09, together with the 2008 progress reports on the countries from the Western Balkans that want to join the bloc, and Turkey. The big winner turned out to be Croatia, which was deemed capable of finalising its accession talks with the European Union by the end of next year.

Here are the key points of the newly-adopted enlargement strategy and the main findings on EU candidates Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99).

"The Western Balkans have moved closer to the EU over the past year," the document says. The situation following Kosovo's secession from Serbia has remained "generally calm" and there has been considerable economic growth. Many challenges remain, though, primarily in the field of state-building, consolidation of institutions and achieving better governance. There is the need to strengthen the enforcement of the rule of law through judicial reform and the fight against corruption and organised crime. The insufficient dialogue among political forces, "including on ethnic-related issues", unresolved neighbourhood issues, pick-up of average inflation, the rise of the current account deficit and the high, in places, unemployment are among the major concerns. The region needs to be prepared to deal with the rising macro-economic challenges stemming from the international financial crisis.

As far as Turkey is concerned, the strategy notes its involvement in contributing to the stability in the region following the crisis in Georgia. "Turkey's geo-strategic position gives the country a vital role in the EU's energy security, particularly diversification of energy sources. Closer energy co-operation between the EU, Turkey, as well as other states in the region [...] is essential," it says.

Country-by-country, the strategy says "Croatia's accession negotiations have entered their decisive phase, thus demonstrating to the region as a whole that the perspective of EU membership is a reality". It adds that Croatia has made good overall progress and currently largely complies with its obligations under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). Over the past months Croatia has significantly improved its management of EU pre-accession funds, the document says, concluding it should be possible to reach the final stage of accession negotiations with Croatia by the end of 2009, given it meets all the necessary conditions.

Therefore the EC has decided to propose an indicative road map for concluding technical negotiations with the country by the end of 2009. The authorities in Zagreb need to focus on continuing reforms, especially in the judiciary and public administration, the fight against corruption and organised crime, the promotion of minority rights, including refugee return, the pursuit of war crime trials, and access for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to documents. Restructuring shipyards is another challenge.

Macedonia is reported to have made progress in a number of areas, especially regarding judicial reform, police reform and implementation of requirements under the SAA. The "violent incidents and serious irregularities" that marred the June general elections are considered a serious setback. The strategy says Skopje needs to ensure free and fair elections, improve the political dialogue, ensure an impartial and non-politicised police service, and continue the fight against corruption. Regarding the name dispute with Greece, "maintaining good neighbourly relations, including a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution to the name issue, under the auspices of the UN, remains essential".

Turkey, having managed to avoid the outlawing of its ruling Justice and Development Party, should now focus on political reform. The rules governing political parties need to be brought in line with the European standards. Citizens' rights need to be better defended and judicial reform needs to be pursued. Promoting women's rights and gender equality, freedom of expression and of religion in practice, strengthening civilian control over the military are the top priorities. "Following the start of full fledged negotiations between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities on a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue, it is crucial that Turkey continues supporting a solution and the efforts of the UN."

In Albania, the major challenges remain enforcing the rule of law and ensuring the proper functioning of state institutions. Tirana also "needs to ensure that its 2009 parliamentary elections are properly prepared and conducted". Bosnia and Herzegovina, for its part, "urgently needs to achieve the necessary political consensus and to proceed with reforms, in particular with a view to assuming greater ownership of its governance." Montenegro needs to intensify reforming the judiciary and entrenching the rule of law.

Serbia has got firmly back on its EU-integration track after the May snap elections, but in order for the SAA to start being implemented, it needs to achieve full co-operation with ICTY. "The arrest and bringing to justice of Radovan Karadzic was a major step forward but this process needs to be completed," the document says. Belgrade is also encouraged "to take a constructive approach towards Kosovo's participation in regional initiatives and international fora". Should it meet the necessary conditions Serbia can receive candidate status in 2009.

The strategy reaffirms EU's stand that "Kosovo has a clear European perspective, in line with the rest of the Western Balkans". The constitution Pristina adopted is deemed by the EC "in line with European standards". Strengthening the institutions, entrenching the rule of law and enhancing dialogue and reconciliation between the communities need to be pursued. The deployment of the EULEX mission is now underway. "The Commission will explore all avenues to promote Kosovo's involvement in regional co-operation and [...] will evaluate means to further Kosovo's political and socioeconomic development." It will also examine how Kosovo can progress towards integration with the EU and will present a feasibility study on this in the autumn of 2009.