Tokom samita u decembru te godine, lideri tada 25-članog bloka postavili su 17. mart 2005. kao datum za početak pregovora o pristupanju Zagreba, pod uslovom da zemlja ostvari punu saradnju s Međunarodnim krivičnim tribunalom za bivšu Jugoslaviju.
During a summit in December that year, leaders of the then-25-member bloc set March 17th 2005 as the starting date for Zagreb's entry negotiations, making it conditional on the country's full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.