From six members in the 1950s to 25 in 2004 and 27 in 2007, the European Union can now rightly claim to represent a continent. Stretching from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, it reunites Europe’s western and eastern parts for the first time since they were split by the cold war 60 years ago.
The European Union is open to any European country which is democratic, has a market economy and possesses the administrative capacity to handle the rights and obligations of membership. This means enlargement is an ongoing process.
The EU has already welcomed successive waves of new members. It has also created a single market and a single currency, and expanded its responsibilities from economic and social policies to cover foreign and security policy as well. Every enlargement has added to the wide cultural and linguistic diversity which is a hallmark of the European Union.
The 2004 enlargement, from 15 to 25, was the biggest in the Union’s history. It had its roots in the collapse of communism, symbolised by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This offered an unexpected and unprecedented opportunity to extend the stability and prosperity enjoyed by EU citizens into central and eastern Europe. Bulgaria and Romania became EU members in January 2007.
Romanians celebrate joining the EU on 1 January 2007.
One of the Union’s first post-enlargement priorities is to raise the living standards of the countries which joined in 2004 (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) – plus Bulgaria and Romania – to EU levels.
At present, the economies of the countries which have become members since 2004 are growing more strongly than those of the others. This is bringing more prosperity to the newcomers, creating new jobs there while offering new markets for goods and services from the rest of the EU. The gap between living standards across the Union is narrowing, with per capita GDP (a standard measure of wealth) in countries like Cyprus and Slovenia rising closer to the EU average.
One major task for the new members has been to take responsibility for securing their eastern frontiers which now become the external borders of the Union. Secure external frontiers are a necessary precondition for maintaining open internal frontiers within the EU. Passport-free travel for citizens from the countries of central and eastern Europe which joined in 2004 became a reality at the end of 2007, symbolically removing the last east-west frontier controls where the cold war had split Europe in two.
Turkey is a candidate to join the European Union.
The experience of previous EU enlargements has shown how well the EU integration process works. But major change is often a cause for concern and the 2004 enlargement was no exception.
To meet these concerns, EU leaders agreed in June 2006 that future enlargements will take into account the Union’s capacity to absorb new members. This will not, however, be a precondition for membership.
The 1992 Maastricht Treaty says (in Article 49) that any European state which respects the principles of liberty, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law may apply to join the Union.
Further clarification came when EU government heads at a meeting in Copenhagen in 1993 laid down the basic conditions for membership. By the time they join, new members must have:
Even before Bulgaria and Romania joined the Union, entry negotiations with two more candidate countries, Turkey and Croatia, had begun (in October 2005). Negotiations with Croatia may be concluded within a few years; those with Turkey are expected to take considerably longer. In June 2010, the European Council decided to open negotiations with Iceland.
An application for membership submitted by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has been formally accepted by the EU, although no date has been set so far for entry negotiations to begin.
The EU is now looking at further enlargements in the Western Balkans which would eventually include Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. It believes the vocation of these countries is to become members of the EU once they are ready.
