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European Communities European Union
Enlargement of the European Union has occurred six times since the Union's de facto predecessor, the European Coal and Steel Community, was established by six founding states in 1951. Thus the number of EU Member States has grown to twenty-seven. The largest enlargement occurred on May 1, 2004, when 10 new countries acceded the European Union (EU). Most recently, Bulgaria and Romania joined the bloc on January 1, 2007.
Currently, accession negotiations are underway 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 fulfill the economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhagen criteria (after the Copenhagen summit in June 1993), which require a secular, democratic government, the rule of law, and its corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the EU Treaty, each current member state and also the European Parliament have to agree to any enlargement.
The present EU Treaty - the Treaty of Nice - does not provide for the voting arrangements to be adopted for more than the present 27 members. Although the proposed European Constitution did provide such a mechanism, it was abandoned after referenda in two countries prevented its ratification. The newly signed Treaty of Lisbon provides this mechanism, but has yet to be ratified.
Enlargement may lead to negative commercial consequences for other WTO Member States. The EU and the US have agreed in March 2006 to provide compensation for negative consequences associated with the 2004 enlargement.
Historical enlargements
Main article: History of the European UnionFounding 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 Area who 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. Due to this, other members of EFTA suspended their applications which had been put forward with Britain's.
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, joined the Community with the United Kingdom.
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).
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 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 enlargement 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.
Criteria and methods
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. To join the EU an applicant country must 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.
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 now 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.
Future enlargement
Main article: Future enlargement of the European Union
In the Treaty of Maastricht (Article 49), it is stated 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.
At present, a country must first sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SSA) 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 Croatia and Macedonia joining Turkey in achieving candidate status.
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.
Candidate countries
Croatia
Main article: Accession of Croatia to the European Union
Croatia applied for EU membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council (the EU's heads of government) in mid-2004 and a date for the beginning of entry negotiations, while originally set for early 2005, was postponed to October of the same year. Following the opening of accession negotiations on October 3 2005, the process of screening 33 acquis chapters with Croatia was completed on October 18 2006.
After Slovenia, Croatia has recovered best from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and so hopes to become the second former Yugoslav state to become a member. It has a stable market economy, and has had better statistical indicators than Bulgaria and Romania which joined in 2007.
In late 2005, the EU officials projected that the accession of Croatia would likely happen between 2010 and 2012. In October 2006, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn stated: "If Croatia will be able to reform its judiciary and economy with rigour and resolution, then it is likely to be ready around the end of this decade."
The finalisation of all chapters of the acquis communautaire is expected in September 2009, while signing the accession treaty would happen in the year after. Before starting negotiations with Croatia, the acquis was divided into 35 chapters, 4 more than the usual 31; the new chapters, previously part of the agricultural policy, are areas expected to be troublesome, as they were with the other applicants. Croatia was expected to be a full EU member by 2010, though this presupposed ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Main article: Accession of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the European Union
The Republic of Macedonia applied to become an official candidate on March 22, 2004. On November 9, 2005 the European Commission recommended that it become a candidate state. EU leaders agreed to this recommendation on December 17, formally naming the country as an official candidate, but no date for starting negotiations has been announced yet.
The country has a dispute with its southern neighbour and current EU member, Greece, over the name Macedonia (see: Macedonia naming dispute). Because of this, the EU recognises the country as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and this is the only denotation by which the country may hold negotiations with the EU. Resolution of this issue is technically not a precondition for membership, but Greece and Cyprus have stated that they will veto the country's accession unless an agreement on the naming issue is reached.
Peace is maintained with underlying ethnic tensions over Albanians in the west that achieved greater autonomy through the implementation of the Ohrid Accords. Unlike Serbia, it has maintained sovereignty over all its territory. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has suggested that the country could join in 2012 or 2013. However, the EU has not come out with any official recognition of this suggested time period.
On December 17, 2005 the European Council welcomed and congratulated the country's achievements in implementing multiple reforms and agreements (Copenhagen criteria, Stabilisation and Association process, Ohrid Agreement). It supports the continuation of this process. Further concrete steps in the country's EU membership (i.e. commencing of negotiations) will be possible after the debate on the general Enlargement policy of the EU. The Council notes also that the absorption capacity of the EU will be taken into account.
In 2008, Athens said it will block Macedonia's NATO and European Union accession until the two agree on a name for Greece's northern neighbour, which broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991. Greece rejects the name Macedonia because it says it implies territorial ambitions towards Greece's own northern province of Macedonia, birthplace of Alexander the Great. Dora Bakoyannis, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, accused Macedonia of "an intransigent stance and its action of an irredentist and nationalistic logic". "I underlined that the intransigence that has persisted to date ... has left us with no other choice," she said. "We are not happy about that. Nobody likes vetoes." Following irregularities in the country's parliamentary elections in June 2008, there are fears among the international community and Greece that the Macedonian side will unilaterally withdraw from negotiations unless Greece concedes group to FYR Macedonia on the issue.
Turkey
Main article: Accession of Turkey to the European Union
The status of Turkey with regard to the EU has become a matter of major significance and considerable controversy in recent years. Turkey is one of the founding members of the Council of Europe since 1949 and has been an associate member of the European Union and its predecessors since 1964 following the signing of the EEC-Turkey Association Agreement (Ankara Agreement) in 1963. The country formally applied for full membership on April 14, 1987, but 12 years passed before it was recognised as a candidate country at the Helsinki Summit in 1999. After a summit in Brussels on December 17, 2004, the European Council announced that membership negotiations with Turkey were officially opened on October 3, 2005. The screening process which began on October 20, 2005 was completed on October 18 2006.
Turkey, classified as a developed country by the CIA, with the seventh largest economy in the Council of Europe and the fifteenth largest economy in the world, is part of the common EU customs territory since the entering into force of the EU-Turkey Customs Union in 1996. Turkey is a founding member of the OECD since 1961, a founding member of the OSCE since 1973 and an associate member of the Western European Union since 1992. Turkey is also a founding member of the G20 industrial nations (1999) which has close ties with the European Union.
Proponents of Turkey's membership argue that it is a key regional power with a large economy and the second largest military force of NATO that will enhance the EU's position as a global geostrategic player; given Turkey's geographic location and economic, political, cultural and historic ties in regions with large natural resources that are at the immediate vicinity of the EU's geopolitical sphere of influence; such as the East Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts, the Middle East, the Caspian Sea basin and Central Asia.
According to Carl Bildt, Swedish foreign minister, " would give the EU a decisive role for stability in the eastern part of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, which is clearly in the strategic interest of Europe." One of Turkey's key supporters for its bid to join the EU is the United Kingdom. In May 2008, Queen Elizabeth II said during a visit to Turkey, that "Turkey is uniquely positioned as a bridge between the East and West at a crucial time for the European Union and the world in general."
Proponents also argue that Turkey abides by most conditions for accession. Some maintain that the EU can no longer refuse Turkey, as it has had an open candidacy for over 40 years, and has made major improvements in human rights in order to try to satisfy the entry conditions.
There are, however, numerous arguments against Turkey's accession. Opponents include French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Others argue that Turkey does not respect the key principles that are expected in a liberal democracy, such as the freedom of expression, with potentially repressive laws like Article 301 (which was reformed on April 30, 2008); and because of the significant role of the army on the Turkish administrative foreground through the National Security Council; whose military-dominated structure was reformed on July 23, 2003, in line with the requests from the EU. Turkey's large population would also alter the balance of power in the representative European institutions. Upon joining the EU, Turkey's 70 million inhabitants would bestow it the second largest number of MEPs in the European Parliament. Demographic projections indicate that Turkey would surpass Germany in the number of seats by 2020. Some oppose the accession of a large Muslim country. Turkey's membership would also affect future enlargement plans, especially the number of nations seeking EU membership, grounds by which Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has opposed Turkey's admission. d'Estaing has suggested that it would lead to demands for accession by Morocco. Morocco's application is already rejected on geographic grounds, and Turkey, unlike Morocco, has territory in Europe. French President Nicholas Sarkozy (then a candidate) has stated in January 2007 that "enlarging Europe with no limit risks destroying European political union, and that I do not accept...I want to say that Europe must give itself borders, that not all countries have a vocation to become members of Europe, beginning with Turkey which has no place inside the European Union." Only a small fraction of Turkish territory lies in the common geographical definition of Europe, but this is where the country's largest city and its economic and cultural capital, Istanbul, is located. EU member Cyprus is actually located to the south of Anatolia and is geographically a part of Anatolia's continental shelf.
Another concern is that Turkey continues to occupy the northern third of the island of Cyprus, which became an EU member in 2004, with 40,000 Turkish troops stationed there since 1974. Turkey's original intention, which was declared by the Prime Minister of that period, Bülent Ecevit, was to avoid the island's annexation to Greece and to bring an end to the Cypriot intercommunal violence which took place between 1963 and 1974. Since 1974, Turkey refuses to recognise the Republic of Cyprus as the sole authority on the island, until a solution for the Cyprus dispute is found under the auspices of the United Nations. Historically though, the UN Security Council, in its Resolution 541 of 18 November 1983, has declared the occupation of northern Cyprus legally invalid and called for the withdrawal of Turkish forces. The UN-backed Annan Plan for the re-unification of Cyprus was actively supported by the EU and Turkey. However, the Annan Plan was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots at north, but was rejected by the Greek Cypriots at south, in separate referenda which took place in April 2004.
EU member states must unanimously agree on Turkey's membership for the Turkish accession to be successful. A number of nations can oppose it, notably Austria, which historically served as a bulwark for Christian Europe against the Ottoman Empire; and France, which is fearful of the prospect of another wave of Muslim immigrants, especially given the poor integration of its existing Muslim minority.
Potential candidate countries
The EU's relations with the Western Balkans states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia) were moved from the "External Relations" to the "Enlargement" policy segment. These states currently are not recognised as candidate countries, but only as "potential candidate countries". This is a consequence of the advancement of the Stabilisation and Association process.
The successor states of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia), as well as Kosovo, have all adopted EU integration as an aim of foreign policy. Slovenia joined the EU on 1 May 2004. Croatia is currently negotiating its entry. The Republic of Macedonia is recognised as an EU candidate country.
The Western Balkan nation of Albania, which was isolated from the rest of Europe for decades until the early 1990s, has adopted EU integration as the strategic orientation of the country.
The EU signed an agreement with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the Republic of Macedonia on 13 April 2007, and Serbia on 15 May 2007, which included visa facilitations for the citizens of these countries. The signing EU Commissioner Franco Frattini was quoted saying that this is the first step toward a full abolishment of the visa requirements and the free movement of the Western Balkans citizens in EU. Negotiations for a visa-free travel regime with the aforementioned countries are expected to start in January 2008.
The 2003 European Council summit in Thessaloniki set integration of the Western Balkans as a priority of EU expansion. A further meeting in Mamaia, Romania, concluded that "Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro are considered likely to join the EU between 2010 and 2015" depending on their fulfillment of the adhesion criteria. This summit was attended by two EU members, seven countries now in the EU, and the eight EU hopefuls (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine). However, this summit was not linked to any EU institution, whatsoever, and the target dates and agreements presented there mainly aimed at encouraging the candidate and potential candidate countries on their way to eventual full membership into the EU.
On 9 November 2005, the European Commission suggested in a new strategy paper that the current enlargement agenda (Croatia, Turkey and the Western Balkans) could potentially block the possibility of a future accession of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Olli Rehn has said on occasion that the EU should "avoid overstretching our capacity, and instead consolidate our enlargement agenda," adding, "this is already a challenging agenda for our accession process."
Netherlands Antilles
Main article: Netherlands Antilles and the European UnionOn 15 December 2008, The Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius will become part of the Netherlands as special municipalities. The government of the Netherlands is currently investigating the consequences of a change of status within the European Union for these islands. They are currently listed as overseas countries and territories in Annex II of the Treaty of Rome and as such are not considered part of the EU. The islands are opting to become an outermost region of the EU, the same status the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French overseas departments have. European commissioner Danuta Hübner has said before the European Parliament that she doesn't expect many problems to occur with such a status change, as the islands' population only consists of some 30,000 people. As the islands are currently listed in an Annex of the Treaty of Rome, the treaty needs to be changed before the new status can take effect.
See also
- Future enlargement of the European Union
- Countries bordering the European Union
- Statistics relating to the EU enlargement
- Treaty of Accession 2003
- Treaty of Accession 2005
References
- USTR Website
- According to the official website of the European Commission, the signature of the Accession Treaty of Romania and Bulgaria "marks the completion of the fifth enlargement of the EU". Consequently, the enlargement in 2004 was only the first part of the Fifth Enlargement. Also, recently Elmar Brok, a German member of the European Parliament and the chairman of the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs, added "We do not think that Croatia is a part of the future wave of the (European Union) enlargement. Croatia is the last part of the ongoing process of the enlargement according to the formula 10 plus two plus one." http://www.vlada.hr/default.asp?gl=200608250000011
- Europe's Next Frontiers - Lecture at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs by Olli Rehn, EUROPA - Rapid - Press Releases, 31 October 2006
- BalkanInsight.com - Croatia 'To Join EU by 2010'
- Template:PDFlink
- "Mazedoniens Premier Gruevski im Interview: "Beitrittsverhandlungen ab 2008"". Der Standard. 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2006-11-07.
- Presidency Conclusions – Brussels, 15/16 December 2005, 15914/05 7, EN:
- Greece threatens Macedonia NATO veto - Yahoo! News UK
- CIA World Factbook
- Stratfor: "The Geopolitics of Turkey", by George Friedman. July 31, 2007.
- NATO official website: "My country & NATO: Turkey"
- ^ The Economist: "Turkey, America and Europe: Who is losing Turkey?"
- Mango, Andrew (2000). Ataturk. Overlook. ISBN 1-5856-7011-1.
- Shaw, Stanford Jay (1977). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-5212-9163-1.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Ekman, Ivar (2006-12-11). "Top Swedish official backs Turkey for EU". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Hürriyet: Britain's Queen Elizabeth's visit to Turkey continues. hurriyet.com.tr Link accessed 2008-05-15
- "France warns no treaty, no EU enlargement". Reuters UK. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
- BBC: EU hails Turkey free speech move. April 30, 2008.
- Financial Times: A quiet revolution: Less power for Turkey's army is a triumph for the EU. July 31, 2003.
- "Turkey has no place in EU: Sarkozy". Retrieved 2007-04-13.
- Princeton University: WWS Case Study 3/00. Policy Watershed: Turkey's Cyprus Policy and the Interventions of 1974.
- Security Council resolution 220 (1966) on Cyprus
- Candidate countries, European Union's official site
- "EU/Kosovo Factsheet" (PDF). European Union - Delegation of the European Commission to the United States. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- Europe Offers Dialogue on Visa-free Regime with Balkans, BIRN, 26 June 2007
- 2005 enlargement strategy paper, European Union's official site
- EU enlargement chief vows to press ahead, for 'stability', International Herald Tribune, 1 February 2006
- Template:Nl Radio Netherlands - Bonaire, Saba en St. Eustatius bij de EU?
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