First, the accession candidates will have to fulfill the economic conditions for membership in the European Union, as defined by the European Council in Copenhagen back in 1993. These conditions consist in establishing a functioning market economy and attaining sufficient competitiveness to participate in the single market.
The topic of the Conference – the Arab sector’s partnership in the economy and in growth – is a major issue in terms of the Israeli economy’s ability to fulfill its growth potential in the next few years and to reduce the scope of poverty and the gaps in Israeli society, which are among the highest in the OECD, and about which much has already been written and said.