EU Enlargement Policy (original) (raw)
The Past, Present, and Future of EU Enlargement
From the founding days of the European Coal and Steel Community ("ECSC') in 1952, European integration has been designed as an open access model. At least in principle, every European State has the right to join. And in spite of the somewhat mixed reviews the European Union (EU) has been getting from its citizens over the years, it has shown a remarkable and sustained attractiveness to those not yet among its members. The main reason is, undoubtedly, that the EU has been successful in its primary mission, namely to bring peace and prosperity to a continent that was regularly torn apart by violent conflict ever since historic records exist. At first, only Western Europe was able to benefit but right when the impact of European integration on peace and prosperity in the region was beginning to be taken for granted, the challenge of expanding the mission to all of Europe presented itself. As we all know, the EU has meanwhile grown from 6 Western founding members to 28 current members and now encompasses virtually the entire geographic range of Europe. One additional country managed to sneak in through the backdoor without a formal accession procedure. Only two countries, Norway and Switzerland, have ever decided against accession, and only one territory, Greenland, has ever decided to leave the EU. No fewer than eight more countries are right now at various stages of accession preparation, and several more may yet decide to apply. Thus, enlargement is an ongoing story and the map of the EU will still be re-drawn several more times before its final borders can be determined. At the same time, the procedure for accession negotiations is regulated only in very superficial terms, which have remained largely unchanged over time. Yet, the procedure has evolved considerably in practice. As always, when the law on a particular question provides only a basic framework, the discretionary powers of those who apply the law greatly increase. The Council and the Commission have not shied away from making use of those discretionary powers. It is the purpose of the present article to show how individual Member States, or rather individual leaders of those Member States, via the unanimity requirement in the Council, were able to impose their views on enlargement in the early years. Secondly, we will show that this power has shifted noticeably to the Commission as the number of Member States has grown. Nevertheless, strong individual leaders in the Member States can still put their mark on the timetable and conditions of enlargement. There just seem to be fewer of those distinguished leaders today. Thirdly, we try to predict the use of discretionary powers in ongoing and future accession negotiations. To that end, we analyze how accession negotiations were conducted with the Central and Eastern European Countries ("CEECs") which joined in 2004 and 2007, how and why the approach was modified for the negotiations with Croatia, and how and why the strategy is already different again for the next group of countries.
The European Union is making substantial effort to become an increasingly important figure in modern international relations. In order for the European Union to fully function, a proper balance needs to be found between deepening and widening of the European integration process. The EU is starting to highly resemble Kissinger’s model of multispeed Europe. Two key questions relevant to the integration process have been key issues since the Paris Treaty. The first question is what level of integration the EU can achieve without a clearly defined balance of sovereignty between the supranational institutions of the EU and the member-states. The second question is how a supranational institution will function in the complex European political climate. Analysis of relevant macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, expenditure, the level of employment and unemployment will prove that EU accession had an overall positive effect on acceding countries. In the contexts of enlargement policies, a special emphasis is placed on the region of the Western Balkans. It is recommended that taking into account the complex political situation in the region, the European Commission provides more accurate guidelines for the countries of the Western Balkans.
THE MAIN CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE EUROPEAN UNION ENLARGEMENT
The POLITNOMOS Journal of Political and Legal Studies, 2024
The article explores the European Union (EU) enlargement process and the challenges it faces in the context of current geopolitical dynamics. It outlines the key features of the enlargement process, including the Copenhagen Criteria, phased negotiations, while also addressing the internal and external factors shaping EU expansion. The article is focused on significant challenges such as internal disagreements among member states, democratic backsliding in candidate countries, and the impact of geopolitical tensions particularly with Russia on the EU's ability to extend its borders. As the EU navigates its role in stabilizing neighbouring regions and countering external influences, the complexity of integrating new members grows.
Reforming by Hope, Will or Necessity? EU Integration in Times of Enlargement
Rome, IAI, October 2024, 7 p. (IAI Commentaries ; 24|64), 2024
The revival of the EU’s enlargement policy as a geostrategic imperative following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has sparked discussions about the Union’s internal readiness to welcome additional members. The potential accession of up to nine countries from the post-Soviet space and the Western Balkans has been widely associated with the urgent need to reform the Union.
The European Union’s Enlargement Prospects: a Viable Project or an Abandoned Idea?
The Future of the European Union, eds. Konstanty Adam Wojtaszczyk, Tadeusz Wallas, Paweł Stawarz, 2023
The purpose of this chapter is to assess the prospects for continuing the processes of expanding the membership of the European Union. For this purpose, the basic reasons why the EU's membership is so attractive to many countries were indicated first. The course of previous enlargements has also been outlined, including in particular the great enlargement to the East in 2004-2013. Then, an analysis of the current situation was made, presenting the basic conditions and positions on the idea of further enlargement presented, on the one hand, by the EU itself, and on the other-by the countries currently aspiring to membership. This required the characterization of two groups of such countries, located in the broadly understood areas of Eastern Europe and the Balkans (focusing on case studies of Ukraine and Turkey). All this made it possible to indicate the general prospects for further enlargement of the European Union.
Eu Enlargement: Current Eu Candidates and Prospects for Future Enlargement
2014
European Union (EU) since its foundation until today has proven that is a regional international organization in the above expansion, from 6 to 28 members and is still continuing to expand. Since the expansion is one of the important policies, and placed high on the agenda of EU activities, I think it is important that should be analyzed this problem with scientific attention for two main reasons: first, the expansion of the EU led to many European countries with a communist past to be transformed into democratic societies and free market economies; second, enlargement has improved respect for democracy, rule of law, stability and security across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to analyze enlargement process, conditionality, and "the Copenhagen criteria", related to the EU enlargement. It will also describe the situation in the candidate countries for EU membership and potential candidates, their perspectives and political circumstances that hinder their EU membership. Finally, a survey was conducted with Macedonian citizens about their country's prospects in the EU accession process, where their beliefs are analyzed and conclusions are drawn on the possible expansion of the EU towards their country.
Towards the Completion of Europe: Analysis and Perspectives of the New European Union Enlargement
2006
This volume aims to contribute to the analysis of the EU in general and the background and consequences of its 2004 enlargement in particular. This enlargement is by far one of the greatest tests for the European Union and its institutions because the process of Europeanization is taking place in a variety of countries with diverse political cultures and dissimilar perceptions about the meaning and commitment to European integration. Given their differences in political and economic power, incumbent and new members are inevitably altering the functioning and character of the EU, a unique polity in the international system. Derived from this theoretical challenge, the chapters of this book suggest some explanations on six areas related to the 2004 enlargement: analytical approaches, citizens and identities, debates and regional transformations, external impacts, and the potential Turkey's membership. The articles included in this publication are the result of the academic initiative of the Miami
EU Enlargement: From a Success Story to Fatigue
Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 2013
This paper examines the prospect of European Union (EU) enlargement as a crucial step in the context of “enlargement fatigue”. It reviews the enlargement process in the post-2000s. From the late 1950 onwards , the idea of European unification has gradually been emphasized by an attempt to bring peace and stability. Between 1957 and 1995, the EU grew from six to fifteen members. The high point of this development was reached in 2004 and 2007, with an inclusion of Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), who had the communist traditions. After a decade of difficult economic and political reforms, the applicant countries finally edged toward centre stage. Since then, the debate has focused on the question of whether enlargement is fundamental to European unity and how far new member states can contribute to European integration and share the Unin’s benefits. The study relies on the key findings from the European Commission and the number of independent studies in this field. The...