The development of EU enlargement has raised many thorny issues unanticipated by the framers of the EC Treaty. A significant upshot of these issues is that the concept of European identity - defined in terms of such factors as culture, history and economics - has supplanted the long-dominant theme of 'widening and deepening, ' particularly since the Union's expansion has become primarily eastward. The major contribution of this important book lies in its analysis of the conceptualization and perception of enlargement from various points of view, focusing on the concerns of stakeholders and the 'identity' conflicts and uncertainties incurred by enlargement initiatives. In the course of its presentation, it details the actual pre-accession Europeanization process and its complex history. Among the key elements discussed are the following: the conflict between 'widening' and 'deepening' and the effect on EU institutional reform; institutional requirements on candidate countries; pre-accession criteria and negotiations; administrative capacity, judicial capacity, and legal approximation in accession states; capacity of the EU to absorb new Member States; and EC law as part of European identity. Also covered are specific historical details of particular pre-accession negotiations (e.g., Greece, Spain, Portugal, Malta, and Cyprus), the still inconclusive negotiations with Turkey and the Western Balkan states, and political factors involved in the non-accession of Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Assembling powerful evidence and applying incisive analysis, the author's conclusion shows that, absent further (and major) EU institutional reform, it will be difficult for an enlarging Union to continue to 'deliver the goods.' A watershed in the continuing great debate on the fulfilment of the EC Treaty's determination to foster and promote 'an ever closer union of the peoples of Europe, ' this book will prove invaluable to anybody interested in the European integration project, particularly lawyers, academics, officials and policymakers in the EU Member States.

The Enlargement of the European Union: A Guide for the Entrepreneur is a practical reference book for business and financial investors looking at changes and opportunities arising from the expansion of Europe. It provides coverage of all the important issues for business and financial communities, setting out a framework for senior management to checklist their own situations and take advantage of a market that contains 450 million customers.

The continuous expansion of the European Union has transformed its very own self-conception. While Eastern enlargement was widely celebrated as the ‘reuniting of Europe’, the sheer number of applicants, their low economic development and the need for new states to transform in accordance with EU values required considerable adjustments to the EU’s self-image. By examining the European Council’s contentious approval of the Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European countries in the 1970s and 1990s, this book investigates why the European Union enlarges. Based on new and hitherto not analysed data, it introduces the concept of ‘anomie’ to the discourse and, in doing so, makes a timely contribution to the literature of constitutional politics and enlargement of the European Union. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of the European Union, area studies (European studies, central and east European studies, Mediterranean studies) and more broadly comparative politics and constitutional politics.

In May 2004, eight former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe acceded to the European Union. This new book examines the Eastern expansion of the EU through a tripartite structure, developing an empirical, conceptual and institutional analysis to provide a rounded and substantive account of EU enlargement, with new theoretical insights. The foreword is by written by Pat Cox, former president of the European Parliament. John O'Brennan also explores: why the EU decided to expand its membership what factors drove this process forward? how did the institutional environment of the EU influence enlargement outcomes? In this context he comprehensively covers the role of the European Council, Commission and Parliament. This important volume will of great interest to students and scholars of European politics and European Union studies.

This book fills a significant gap in recent literature on European Union politics by examining the EU’s ‘other’ eastern enlargement, completed in 2007 with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. It focuses on both the process and the effects of the 2007 enlargement within the wider context of the post-communist countries’ accession to the EU, and, more broadly, within the context of the history of EU enlargement. The book brings together in-depth analyses of a wide range of issues, both from a comparative perspective and through single case studies. Individual contributions shed new light onto EU enlargement through a theoretical re-evaluation of the ‘strategic action’ paradigm, as well as through historical analyses of the 2007 enlargement and of its implications for future EU enlargements. Further insight into the process of EU enlargement is gained through systematic exploration of the impact of accession on policy-making and institutional structures in Bulgaria and Romania. Altogether, the contributions exemplify the multi-faceted nature of EU enlargement and accession, as well as the extent to which the process of acceding to the EU is not completed with membership, either for the EU or for the candidate countries. This book was published as a special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society.

European Union Enlargement provides a comparative analysis of the post-war European policies of those states that joined the European Union between 1973 and 1995. The volume draws upon new empirical research in order to investigate the policies that these 'newcomer' states have had towards Europe since 1945, with an emphasis on their experience of membership and its possible Europeanising effect. A final comparative chapter draws the national European policies of the 'newcomers' together and outlines what they have brought to the EU. The book also tests integration theories against the available evidence, demonstrating their limited explanatory value and the economic, political and cultural specificity of different national paths towards EU integration.

This book explores one of the central challenges facing the EU today – how to reconcile enlargement with the pursuit of a stronger and more effective European Union. While the relationship between widening and deepening has been recognized for years as one of the big questions in the field of European integration, existing theoretical and empirical analyses of this relationship suffer from a variety of shortcomings. This book brings together a group of EU scholars who significantly advance our understanding of the relationship between widening and deepening. The contributors challenge a variety of ‘common wisdoms’ concerning the relationship between widening and deepening and offer nuanced theoretical and empirical analysis of the relationship between these two vital dimensions of European integration. Collectively, the contributors to this volume offer the most comprehensive picture available to date of the multi-faceted relationship between widening and deepening. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

The effects of the Eastern enlargement, the biggest so far, are still felt across the European Union (EU). Many warned the EU was about to overreach the limits of its integration capacity. More than a decade later, this book presents a broad-based and systematic evaluation of the 2004–2007’s enlargement and its impact on the EU. In contrast to widespread scepticism, our results show that the EU’s integration capacity has been strong. Credible accession conditionality and pre-accession assistance have had a positive impact on democracy, governance capacity, and economic transformation, at least before accession. After accession, EU institutions have proven resilient. Eastern enlargement has not affected negatively the legislative capacity of the EU. It has not led to a deterioration of compliance and implementation of EU law either; initial differentiated integration has quickly returned to normal levels. This generally positive assessment stands in stark contrast with increasing public opposition to future EU enlargements. We identify some less known sources of such opposition: the lack of communication and political debate about enlargement between EU leaders and their citizens. Public opposition undermines the credibility of EU conditionality, which is crucial for having a positive impact on neighbouring countries in the future. The chapters in this book originally appeared in a special issue in the Journal of European Public Policy.

This is a key reference text presenting the latest first-rate approaches to the study of European enlargement. Developed and significantly expanded from a special issue of the leading Journal of European Public Policy, this new volume draws on the insights from the recently emerging theoretically-informed literature on the EU's eastern enlargement and complements these studies with original articles that combine a theoretical approach with comparative analyses. These expert contributors focus on the broader theoretical debates and their implications for the enlargement of the EU, as well as placing the enlargement of the EU within the broader context of the expansion of international organisations and the study of institutions in international relations.

European Union Enlargement offers an intense and detailed analysis of the almost ten-year process of preparing and negotiating the accession of Eastern, Southeastern, and Central European countries, as well as Mediterranean countries to the European Union. In the end, ten joined in 2004, with two more to follow in 2007. European Union Enlargement was written by two diplomats who were directly involved in that process. Sajdik and Schwarzinger relate their first-hand experience of proceedings that occurred behind closed doors. They detail how the vision of adding some countries gradually developed into the concrete policy intended to enlarge the European Union. A special chapter explains the Accession Process as well as the Union's strategy that prepared the candidate countries, in legal and economic terms, for membership. The authors describe in detail the complex negotiations that occurred from 1998 to 2002. These include activities of EU member states as well as the European Commission with respect to the candidate countries. They further offer a brief analysis of future possibilities of EU-accession by Balkan nations and Turkey. A number of topical chapters deal with particular key issues involved in the process: free movement of workers, agriculture, financing of the enlargement, transport, and nuclear safety. Other chapters deal with the enclave of Kaliningrad as well as the Stability and Association Pact for South East Europe. In addition to providing key information about the process, this volume is also a case study of European policies and diplomatic practice. The enlargement negotiations from 1998 to 2002 were the most complex ones the European Union had ever conducted. In consequence, this work gives insight into the working methods of both the institutions in Brussels and of the representatives of the member states that made them a success. It will be of interest to those concerned with European politics, international organizations, and area studies.