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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 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 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.

Due to provisions in the latest EU treaty (which govern the EU), the Treaty of Nice, the EU is prevented from expanded beyond twenty-seven members as it is considered that the decision making processes of the EU would not be able to operate with more members. The Treaty of Lisbon would have reformed these processes and removed the twenty-seven state limit, although the ratification of this treaty is in doubt.

Historical enlargements

For more details on background and statistics, see History of the European Union and Statistics relating to enlargement.

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 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). 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 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 process

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 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.

Future enlargement

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 the former Yugoslav Republic of 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. 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.

Croatia

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.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) 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. The resolution of this issue has become a precondition for further progress on accession.

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 FYROM'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 FYROM 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." The country's difficulties in reaching European standards on the rule of law and the economy and the violence and irregularities in the 2008 parliamentary elections have cast doubts on the country's candidacy.

Turkey

The accession of Turkey has become the most controversial membership application the EU has faced. Turkey was one of the founding members of the Council of Europe, an early member of NATO and was an associate member of the then-European Economic Community via the 1963 EEC-Turkey Association Agreement (Ankara Agreement). It applied to join the Communities 14 April 1987 (shortly after the accession of Spain and Portugal) but it would be twelve years before it was granted the status of a candidate country and negotiations for membership only began on 17 December 2004 (after the large 2004 enlargement). In 1996 the EU established a customs union with Turkey and there has been further co-operation, for example in the European Union battlegroups.

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. 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.

However some, such as French President Nicholas Sarkozy, maintain an opposition to Turkey's membership. Opponents 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). There is also concern about the significant role of the army (though that has been reformed at the EU's request). Others see the problem in Turkey's size, with a population of 70 million, it would be near equal with Germany in voting rights, with its population to exceed that of Germany by 2020 making it the EU's biggest member. There are also cultural, religious and geographical differences attached to this size, and that it may encourage membership of other, even more different, countries to attempt to join. A major political issue holding back negotiations is that of the Cyprus dispute. With a Turkish military presence in Northern Cyprus, which is not recognised as a state but an occupation by the EU, Turkey is essentially engaged in a military occupation of EU territory in the eyes of Europe.

Enlargement fatigue and absorption capacity

Since the 2004 'big bag' enlargement which saw 10, mostly poorer, countries accede to the Union, public opinion in the EU has turned against enlargement. The draw on financial resources towards eastern Europe, movement of work towards the east due to lower costs and the movement west of cheap labour (see Polish Plumber) has been seen by some sectors of the public and press as detrimental to the economies and cultures of the western states. This mood among the public has become known as "enlargement fatigue" and in particular has created further opposition to the candidacy of Turkey.

At a technical level, politicians and the civil service have adopted the term "absorption capacity" in relation to the ability of the Union to absorb new, poorer, states. Of particular note are the EU's Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds, which are director towards the poorest regions in the Union. Prior to 2004, these were in places such as southern Europe and Ireland, but even in areas where there has not been full recovery, funds are being rechannelled to larger numbers of much poorer regions in eastern Europe. Were there to be a greater number of poorer regions, there would not be the funds to cope with large scale economic development in the Union.

Therefore, it is necessary to have, on the one hand, an absorption capacity from the institutional system created by the particular state in order to manage the funds at issue and, on the other hand, an absorption capacity from the beneficiaries whom these funds address. Two facets of absorption capacity can therefore be defined: (1) the supply side and (2) the demand side.

The Demand side measures the ability of potential beneficiaries - private and public - to generate appropriate and acceptable projects.

The Supply side of absorption capacity is determined by three main factors, which divide absorption capacity on: (i) macroeconomic, (ii) financial, and (iii) administrative.

• Macroeconomic absorption capacity indicates the rate of EU funding in terms of the GDP of the country-beneficiary. The capacity to absorb macroeconomic effects generated by the inflow of the supplementary investments is also related to the macroeconomic absorption capacity.
• In order to increase the incentive for the funds efficient use, EU structural assistance only finances a part of the total costs of a program or a project, which means that there is a need for national co-financing. Financial absorption capacity means the ability to co-finance EU-supported programmes and projects, to plan and guarantee these national contributions in multi-annual budgets, and to collect these contributions from several partners (state, regional and local authorities, private bodies), interested in a program or project.
• Administrative absorption capacity can be defined as the ability and skills of central, regional and local authorities to prepare acceptable plans, programmes, and projects in due time, to decide on programmes and projects, to arrange co-ordination among the principal partners, to cope with the vast amount of administrative and reporting work required by the Commission, and to finance and supervise implementation properly, avoiding fraud as far as possible.

See also

• Member State of the European Union
• Future enlargement 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

1. On 3 October 1990, East Germany joined West Germany through the process of German reunification; since then, the reunited Germany has been a single member state.
2. 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
3. Europe's Next Frontiers - Lecture at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs by Olli Rehn, EUROPA - Rapid - Press Releases, 31 October 2006
4. BalkanInsight.com - Croatia 'To Join EU by 2010'
5. http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/macedonia-pm-greek-outburst-eu-summit/article-173577 Macedonia PM in Greek outburst after EU summit
6. "Mazedoniens Premier Gruevski im Interview: "Beitrittsverhandlungen ab 2008"". Der Standard. 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2006-11-07.
7. Presidency Conclusions – Brussels, 15/16 December 2005, 15914/05 7, EN:
8. Greece threatens Macedonia NATO veto - Yahoo! News UK
9. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/world/europe/02macedonia.html Violence Erupts in Macedonian Election
10. International Observers Criticize Macedonia Election
11. Stratfor: "The Geopolitics of Turkey", by George Friedman. July 31, 2007.
12. NATO official website: "My country & NATO: Turkey"
13. ^ The Economist: "Turkey, America and Europe: Who is losing Turkey?"
14. Mango, Andrew (2000). Ataturk. Overlook. ISBN 1-5856-7011-1.
15. 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)
16. BBC: EU hails Turkey free speech move. April 30, 2008.
17. Financial Times: A quiet revolution: Less power for Turkey's army is a triumph for the EU. July 31, 2003.
18. NEI Regional and Urban Development: “Key Indicators for Candidate Countries to Effectively Manage the Structural Funds” Rotterdam, 2003

External links

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

• Enlargement of the European Union