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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 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

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 wasn't until 2000 that it received candidate status, and 2004 when it officially began membership negotiations. Currently almost a third of the 35 chapters have been opened.

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 was 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 the generally conceded benefit to the economies concerned.

The sixth enlargement to Romania (see accession of Romania) and Bulgaria (see accession of Bulgaria), who were deemed unready by the Commission 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. 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."

Timeline

Criteria and process

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:

• 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.

When a country formally applies for membership, the Council asks the Commission to prepare an opinion on the country's readiness to begin negotiations. The Council can then either accept or reject the Commission's opinion (The Council has only once rejected the Commission's opinion when it advised against opening negotiations with Greece).

If the Council agrees to open negotiations the screening process then begins. This is a process in which the Commission and candidate country examine its laws and those of the EU and determine what differences exist. The Council will then recommend the opening of negotiations on "chapters" of law which it feels there is sufficient common ground to have constructive negotiations. Negotiations are typically a matter of the member state convincing the EU that its laws and administrative capacity are sufficient to execute European law, which can be implemented as seen fit by the member states. Often this will involve time-lines before the Acquis Communautaire (European regulations, directives & standards) has to be fully implemented.

A chapter is said to be closed when both sides have agreed it has been implemented sufficiently, however it can still be re-opened if the Commission feels that the candidate has fallen out of compliance.

In order to assess progress achieved by countries in preparing for accession to the European Union, the European Commission submits regular reports (yearly) to the European Council. These serve as the basis upon which the Council takes decisions on negotiations or their extension to other candidates.

Once the negotiations are complete a treaty of accession will be signed, which must then be ratified by all of the member states of the Union, as well as the institutions of the Union, and the candidate country. Once this has been completed it will join the Union on the date specified in the treaty.

The entire process, from application for membership to membership has typically taken about a decade, although some countries, notably Sweden, Finland, and Austria have been faster, taking only a few years. The process from application for association agreement through accession has taken far longer, as much as several decades (Turkey for example first applied for association in the 1950s and has yet to conclude accession negotiations).

Future enlargement

Article 49 of the Amsterdam Treaty (Maastricht Treaty, Article O) establishes that any European country that respects the principles of the European Union may apply to join. (“European” in the broadest sense including Council of Europe-countries like Cyprus.) The Copenhagen European Council set out the conditions for EU membership in June 1993 in the so-called Copenhagen criteria (see Criteria and process above for details). However, the President Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Merkel of Germany stated in June 2008 that the EU cannot enlarge beyond 27 states without reform of the institution of the current Treaty of Nice rules. The Treaty of Nice provide rules beyond 27 which are now not accepted. It is envisaged under ‘Nice’ that, in December 2004, when the term of the Commission ends, each member state at that time would nominate one Commissioner for the following five years. This means that larger member states like France and Germany will reduce their number of Commissioners from two to one. When the total number of member states reaches 27, it is envisaged the European Council would decide upon a system of rotation and may also decide to introduce a ceiling on the total number of Commissioners.

The Treaty of Lisbon would reform the EU, however the treaty is currently stalled in ratification and it is not known for sure when or if it will come into force.

Nevertheless, membership negotiations have been continuing with the expectation of the Lisbon Treaty. The countries prioritised for membership are those in the Western Balkans and Turkey, with three of these (Turkey, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - or FYROM) gaining candidate status. The Western Balkan states have to first sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) before applying and gaining candidate status: all have completed this and Montenegro has already applied for membership.

Croatia is expected to join shortly after a new EU Treaty (Lisbon Treaty or Reform Treaty as it was originally known) is in place, however it may be delayed due to its border dispute with Slovenia. Furthermore, it may see another country joining before or along side it, due to the change of sentiment in Iceland in light of the global late 2000s recession. Iceland is already heavily integrated to the EU via the European Economic Area and if it does choose to join the EU, it could likely do so by 2011.

With the expected dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, there would be a minor enlargement (within the Netherlands) to the three Caribbean islands which have chosen to integrate with the Netherlands. But this cannot happen without the new Lisbon Treaty (Reform Treaty). The Netherlands has proposed that the proposed Treaty of Lisbon allow the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba to opt for the status of Outermost Region (OMR) also called Ultra Peripheral Region (UPR), if they wish.

See also

• Countries bordering the European Union
• Future enlargement of the European Union
• Member State of 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. Staff writer (2006-03-22). "EU Mulls Deeper Policy Cooperation with Morocco". Defense News. Retrieved 2006-07-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1=, |2=, |3=, |4=, |5=, and |6= (help)
2. European Commission (2005-11-10). "1972". The History of the European Union. Retrieved 2006-01-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1=, |2=, |3=, |4=, |5=, and |6= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
3. European Commission (2005-11-10). "1994". The History of the European Union. Retrieved 2006-01-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1=, |2=, |3=, |4=, |5=, and |6= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
4. British Embassy, Berne (2006-07-04). "EU and Switzerland". The UK & Switzerland. Retrieved 2006-07-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1=, |2=, |3=, |4=, |5=, and |6= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
5. 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.
6. Bos, Stefan (01 January 2007). "Bulgaria, Romania Join European Union". VOA News. Voice of America. Retrieved 2 January 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. http://www.vlada.hr/default.asp?gl=200608250000011
8. European Commission - Conditions for Enlargement http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/the-policy/conditions-for-enlargement/index_en.htm
9. www.ena.lu|
10. The provision reads:
    

    Article 311 shall be repealed. A new Article 311a shall be inserted, with the wording of Article 299(2), first subparagraph, and Article 299(3) to (6); the text shall be amended as follows:
    
    (e) the following new paragraph shall be added at the end of the Article:
    "6. The European Council may, on the initiative of the Member State concerned, adopt a decision amending the status, with regard to the Union, of a Danish, French or Netherlands country or territory referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2. The European Council shall act unanimously after consulting the Commission."

    — Treaty of Lisbon Article 2, point 293

External links

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

• Articles with dead external links from January 2009
• Enlargement of the European Union