OECD - Opening of accession negotiations (26 January 2022)

The Council of the OECD decided today to open accession discussions with Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru and Romania. The opening of these discussions constitutes the first step in the rigorous accession process whose outcome will depend on the reforms undertaken by the candidate countries in order to move into alignment with the OECD’s values, norms and standards.

At the request of France and its partners, the OECD Secretary General sent a letter to the candidate countries requesting that they commit to adhering to the values and priorities outlined in the OECD’s 60th anniversary Vision Statement as well as the policy conclusions that were adopted last year at the ministerial level meeting of the Council of the OECD.

Throughout this entire process, France will pay particular attention to ensuring that all of the candidates achieve significant, concrete, measurable progress on the ground in several priority areas, especially with regard to the fight against deforestation and climate change, the protection of biodiversity, anti-corruption measures and economic opening.

At the end of this review and alignment process, the Council of the OECD will issue a decision that is unanimously agreed upon by all member states regarding the accession of each candidate country.