Editing Acquis communautaire (section)

==Chapters==
During the process of the [[enlargement of the European Union]], the acquis was divided into 31 chapters for the purpose of negotiation between the EU and the candidate states for membership for the fifth enlargement (the ten that joined in 2004 plus [[Romania]] and [[Bulgaria]] which joined in 2007).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-06-06 |title=Chapters of the acquis - European Commission |url=https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/enlargement-policy/conditions-membership/chapters-acquis_en |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> These chapters were:

{{div col begin}}
#[[Free movement of goods]]
#[[Free movement of persons]]
#[[Freedom to provide services]]
#[[Free movement of capital]]
#[[Company law]]
#[[European Union competition law|Competition policy]]
#Agriculture
#[[Fishery|Fisheries]]
#Transport policy
#Taxation
#[[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union|Economic and Monetary Union]]
#Statistics
#Social policy and employment
#[[Energy policy of the European Union|Energy]]
#[[Industrial policy]]
#Small and medium-sized enterprises
#Science and research
#Education and training
#Telecommunication and information technologies
#Culture and audio-visual policy
#[[Regional policy]] and co-ordination of structural instruments
#Environment
#Consumers and health protection
#Cooperation in the field of [[Justice and Home Affairs]]
#[[Customs union]]
#External relations
#[[Common Foreign and Security Policy]] (CFSP)
#Financial control
#Financial and budgetary provisions
#Institutions
#Others
{{div col end}}

Beginning with the negotiations with [[Croatia]] (which joined in 2013), the acquis is split up into 35 chapters instead, with the purpose of better balancing between the chapters:{{cn|date=June 2022}} (dividing the most difficult ones into separate chapters for easier negotiation, uniting some easier chapters, moving some policies between chapters, as well as renaming a few of them in the process)

{{div col begin}}
#Free movement of goods
#[[Freedom of movement for workers]]
#Right of establishment and freedom to provide services
#Free movement of capital
#Public procurement
#Company law
#[[:Category:Intellectual property law of the European Union|Intellectual property law]]
#Competition policy
#Financial services
#[[Information society]] and media
#Agriculture and rural development
#Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy
#Fisheries
#Transport policy
#Energy
#Taxation
#Economic and monetary policy
#Statistics
#Social policy and employment <small>(including anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for women and men)</small>
#Enterprise and industrial policy
#[[Trans-European networks]]
#Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments
#Judiciary and fundamental rights
#Justice, freedom and security
#Science and research
#Education and culture
#Environment
#Consumer and health protection
#Customs union
#External relations
#Foreign, security and defence policy
#Financial control
#Financial and budgetary provisions
#Institutions
#Other issues
{{div col end}}

Correspondence between chapters of the 5th and the 6th Enlargement:{{cn|date=June 2022}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-----
! 5th Enlargement
! 6th Enlargement
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 1. Free movement of goods
| 1. Free movement of goods&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 7. Intellectual property law&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 2. Free movement of persons
| 2. Freedom of movement for workers&nbsp;
|-----
| rowspan="2" | 3. Right of establishment and freedom to provide services&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 3. Freedom to provide services
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 9. Financial services&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 4. Free movement of capital
| 4. Free movement of capital&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 5. Company law
| 6. Company law&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 6. Competition policy
| 8. Competition policy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| 5. Public procurement&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 7. Agriculture
| 11. Agriculture and rural development&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 12. Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 8. Fisheries
| 13. Fisheries&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 9. Transport policy
| 14. Transport policy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 21. Trans-European networks '''(one half of it)'''&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 10. Taxation
| 16. Taxation&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 11. Economic and Monetary Union
| 17. Economic and monetary policy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 12. Statistics
| 18. Statistics&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 13. Social policy and employment
| 19. Social policy and employment<br><small>(including anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for women and men)</small>&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 14. Energy
| 15. Energy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| 21. Trans-European networks '''(one half of it)'''&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 15. Industrial policy
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 20. Enterprise and industrial policy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 16. Small and medium-sized enterprises&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 17. Science and research
| 25. Science and research&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 18. Education and training
| rowspan="3" valign="middle" | 26. Education and culture<br>10. Information society and media&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 19. Telecommunication and information technologies&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 20. Culture and audio-visual policy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 21. Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments
| 22. Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 22. Environment
| 27. Environment&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 23. Consumer and health protection
| 28. Consumer and health protection&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="2" valign="middle" | 24. Cooperation in the field of Justice and Home Affairs
| 23. Judiciary and fundamental rights&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| 24. Justice, freedom and security&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 25. Customs union
| 29. Customs union&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 26. External relations
| 30. External relations&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 27. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
| 31. Foreign, security and defence policy&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 28. Financial control
| 32. Financial control&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 29. Financial and budgetary provisions
| 33. Financial and budgetary provisions&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefff"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 30. Institutions
| 34. Institutions&nbsp;
|----- bgcolor="#efefef"
| rowspan="1" valign="top" | 31. Others
| 35. Other issues&nbsp;
|}

Such negotiations usually involved agreeing transitional periods before new member states needed to implement the laws of the European Union fully and before they and their citizens acquired full rights under the ''acquis''.