Enlargement, 1957 to 2007
     European Communities     European Union

Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union (EU) through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community (the EU's predecessor) in 1951. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-seven with the most recent expansion to Bulgaria and Romania in 2007.

Currently, accession negotiations are under way with several states. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration. However, this term is also used to refer to the intensification of cooperation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual centralising of power within European institutions.

In order to join the European Union, a state needs to fulfil the economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhagen criteria (after the Copenhagen summit in June 1993), which require a stable democratic government which respects the rule of law, and its corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the Maastricht Treaty, each current member state and also the European Parliament have to agree to any enlargement.

Historical enlargements

See also: History of the European Union and Statistics relating to enlargement of the European Union

Founding members

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was proposed by Robert Schuman in his declaration on 9 May 1950 and involved the pooling the coal and steel industries of France and West Germany. Joining this project were the Benelux countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands who already achieved a degree of integration between themselves. These countries were joined by Italy and they all signed the Treaty of Paris on 23 July 1952. These six countries, dubbed the 'inner six' (as opposed to the 'outer seven' who formed the European Free Trade Association who were suspicious of such plans for integration) went on to sign the Treaties of Rome establishing two further communities, together known as the European Communities when they merged their executives in 1967. The Community did see some loss of territory due to the decolonialisation occurring in their era; Algeria, which was an integral part of France and hence the Community, gained independence on 5 July 1962 and hence left the Community. There was no enlargement until the 1970s. The United Kingdom, which previously refused to join, changed its policy following the Suez crisis and applied to be a member of the Communities. However, French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed Britain's membership fearing its US influence.

First enlargements

Once de Gaulle had left office, the door to enlargement was once again opened. Together with the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland and Norway applied and were accepted; however the Norwegian government lost a national referendum on membership and hence did not accede with the others on 1 January 1973. Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, did not join the Community with the United Kingdom at this point, which led to further discussion with Spain about the international status of Gibraltar.

The 1970s also saw the restoration of democracy in Greece, Spain and Portugal. Greece joined in 1981 and the two Iberian countries in 1986. 1985 however saw the only time a country had voted to leave the Community, when Greenland was granted home rule by Denmark and the territory used its new powers and voted to withdraw from the Community (See member state territories). Morocco and Turkey applied in 1987, Morocco was turned down as it was not considered European, while Turkey's application was accepted but it would be decades before it would receive candidate status. As of 2008, its membership is still in doubt.

Post-Cold War

In 1989/1990 the Cold War came to an end, on 3 October 1990 East Germany and West Germany were reunified, hence East Germany became part of the Community in the new reunified Germany (not increasing the number of states). The Community later became the European Union in 1993 by virtue of the Maastricht Treaty. In part due to the end of Cold War tensions, the EFTA states bordering the old eastern bloc applied to join the Community. On 1 January 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden acceded to the EU marking its fourth enlargement. The Norwegian government lost a second national referendum on membership.

The Iron Curtain's fall enabled eastward enlargement. (Berlin Wall)

The end of the Cold War and westernisation of Eastern Europe led to the EU wanting to establish standards for new entrants so their suitability could be judged. These Copenhagen criteria stated that a country must be a democracy, operate a free market and be willing to adopt the entire body of EU law already agreed upon.

Eastern bloc enlargements

8 of these countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia), plus the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Cyprus, joined on 1 May 2004. This was the largest single enlargement in terms of people and landmass, though the smallest in terms of GDP. The less developed nature of these countries were of concern to some of the older member states, who placed temporary restrictions on the travel and rights of work of eastern citizens to their countries. The migration that occurred in any case spawned clichés in some western countries (such as the "Polish plumber"), despite acknowledging their benefit to the economies concerned.

The sixth enlargement⁶ to Romania (see accession of Romania) and Bulgaria (see accession of Bulgaria), who were not ready to join in 2004, took place on 1 January 2007. They, like the 2004 countries, faced some restrictions. The lack of progress in some areas such as the judiciary led to further restrictions, such as EU funds they would normally receive, until they fully complied.

Timeline

Criteria and process

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Population and GDP per capita of EU member states and some candidates.

Today the accession process follows a series of formal steps, from a pre-accession agreement to the ratification of the final accession treaty. These steps are primarily presided over by the European Commission (DG Enlargement), but the actual negotiations are technically conducted between the Union's Member States and the candidate country.

Conditions

Any European country could in theory apply to join the EU, at which point the Council, would consult Commission, and European Parliament on beginning accession negoatiations. The council would either accept or reject the recommendation unanimously. In order to receive a positive recommendation the country would need to meet the following criteria:⁷

• It must be a "European State"

• It must respect the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.

In order to gain membership it must then:

• Meet the following Copenhagen criteria established by the European Council in 1993:
  • Stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.
  • The existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.
  • The ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union.

• In December 1995, the Madrid European Council revised the membership criteria to include conditions for member country integration through the appropriate adjustment of its administrative structures: since it is important that European Community legislation be reflected in national legislation, it is critical that the revised national legislation be implemented effectively through appropriate administrative and judicial structures.

Process

Before a country applies for membership it typically signs an association agreement to help prepare the country for candidacy and eventual membership. Most countries do not meet the criteria to even begin negotiations before they apply, so they need many years to prepare for the process. An association agreement helps prepare for this first step.

In the case of the Western Balkans, a special process, the Stabilisation and Association Process exists to deal with the special circumstances there.

In order to assess progress achieved by countries in preparing for accession to the European Union, the European Commission submits 'Regular Reports' to the European Council. These serve as the basis upon which the Council takes decisions on negotiations or their extension to other candidates. Since 1993, the Commission has presented a complete set of Regular Reports on a yearly basis, covering the 10 new member countries in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia) as well as Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.

In 1989, the European Community's Phare program was created. It aimed to provide financial support for potential accession countries so that they could expand and reform their economies.

Future enlargement

Main article: Future enlargement of the European Union

     European Union      Candidate      SAP states + Moldova + Ukraine + Georgia      Membership debate

The Treaty of Maastricht, in Article 49, establishes that any European country that respects the principles of the European Union may apply to join. The Copenhagen European Council set out the conditions for EU membership in June 1993 in the so-called Copenhagen criteria. Whether a country is European or not is a subject to political assessment by the EU institutions, but countries in the Council of Europe that fall onto the border between Europe and Asia all have a significant claim for EU membership, as shown with the accession of geographically Asian, but culturally European, Cyprus.

As of 2008, a country must first sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU before applying for membership, which, if successful, will result in the state being awarded the status of an official candidate. Negotiations then take place where it adopts EU norms which, once fully taken on board, will result in accession. The Western Balkan states are currently adopting SSA agreements, with the former Yugoslav countries Croatia and Republic of Macedonia joining Turkey in achieving candidate status. Experts are divided on the motivations behind EU policy toward the Western Balkans region. David Chandler^who? sees enlargement and the SAAs as little more than a vehicle for a new type of European imperialism in the region.⁸. Other commentators situate EU policy in a long-standing normative context of Europeanisation where the EU seeks to spread its core institutional and constitutional practices to candidate states through enlargement.⁹Approximately 30 other countries have been discussed to one degree or another as potential future candidates.

However, under the current Treaty of Nice, the EU cannot have more than 27 members. Unless this is changed (which the Treaty of Lisbon was to do but is currently in abeyance), the European Union is unable to offer membership to any new candidates. With the expected dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, there would be a minor enlargement to the three Caribbean islands which have chosen to integrate with the Netherlands.

See also

• Future enlargement of the European Union
• Member State of the European Union
• Countries bordering the European Union
• Statistics relating to enlargement of the European Union
• Treaty of Accession 2003
• Treaty of Accession 2005
• Withdrawal from the European Union

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Enlargement of the European Union

• Enlargement – Europa
• European Union Member States and applicant countries – European NAvigator

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