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Accession is the process through which a country becomes an OECD member.
The process begins with a political decision by the OECD Council to open accession discussions. The OECD then establishes an accession roadmap that sets out the terms, conditions, and process for the candidate country.
OECD committees subsequently review the country’s laws, policies, and practices across a wide range of policy areas. These reviews assess the country’s alignment with relevant OECD standards and member State practices and identify reforms that may be needed.
Once the committee reviews are complete, the OECD Council decides whether to invite the country to become a member. The country should complete required steps before formally joining the OECD, but may be invited to accede even while some reforms are still underway.
OECD membership brings political and economic benefits for governments. It also creates expectations that countries align with OECD standards and demonstrate their willingness and ability to implement them. This creates leverage for civil society.
Civil society organisations can use the accession process to:
The OECD does not necessarily require a country to be fully aligned with every relevant standard before it joins. Committees assess the country’s willingness and ability to implement OECD instruments, as well as its policies and practices against OECD standards and best practices.
This makes it important for civil society to advocate for ambitious accession conditions and meaningful reforms, rather than assuming that membership itself will deliver change.
Accession is a political process not open to public input. However, there are opportunities for civil society to engage impactfully.
Even before formal accession discussions begin, civil society can monitor developments and raise concerns with the OECD and member governments. Where a country is being considered for accession, CSOs can identify the OECD standards most relevant to national concerns, document key national governance and implementation gaps, share evidence with relevant OECD bodies and member governments, and advocate for strong conditions to be incorporated into the country’s accession roadmap and process.
The committee review stage is provides important opportunities for civil society to influence the accession process. As OECD committees assess the candidate country’s laws, policies, and practices, CSOs can provide credible research, case studies, and evidence of impacts and governance gaps, while showing where national approaches fall short of relevant OECD standards. They can also recommend specific reforms for committees to request from the candidate government. Direct engagement with OECD member governments, in lieu of committees, may be an effective way to ensure committee members consider the information civil society provides.
Civil society can strengthen its influence by building coalitions across national and international civil society organisations, engaging with OECD member governments that can support ambitious approaches to accession, raising public awareness of governance gaps and demands, and participating directly in OECD fact-finding missions and stakeholder consultations where opportunities are available.
Civil society engagement does not end when a country becomes a member.
Where OECD committees set post-accession requirements, CSOs can monitor implementation, provide information on progress or shortcomings, and continue to advocate for reforms.
The OECD accession process can be technical and difficult to navigate. Our Civil Society Guide to Influencing the OECD Accession Process explains the process and identifies opportunities for civil society to use it strategically. It’s available in English, Indonesian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai.
In 2024, Thailand was invited to the begin the lengthy process to join the OECD as a member state. On 8 December 2025, OECD Watch joined Thai and international non-governmental organisations in a letter to…
