EU Enlargement

The Enlargement is the process through which European countries are accepted as members of the European Union. The integration of new countries follows the original purpose of establishing a common European community: to make the region more stable politically and more prosperous economically. The process of Enlargement also contributes to the strengthening the position of a consolidated Europe as monolithic power on the world scene.

The process of Enlargement has started in 1973 with Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joining the 6 founder-countries (Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland). It was further propelled in the 1990s as a result of the breaking down of the former Soviet Union and the fall of the communist regime in the Eastern European countries.

The Enlargement is more complicated than a simple to-do list which each country has to follow through step by step. It is a multi-layer process that proceeds on several levels. It has a general structure which sets uniform framework of criteria for all candidate members. Yet at the same time it allows room for flexibility and an individualized approach for addressing the specific problems of each applicant country. Another peculiarity of the process is that it has no time limits. Because it can extend over time, it also takes into account the changes that might occur while the integration negotiations are taking place. So it allows for reassessing and updating on the situation in a particular applicant country as well.

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