Enlargement

In 1989 the political map of Europe changed. Within two years the communist governments of central and eastern Europe had fallen, Germany had reunited and the Soviet Union had dissolved. The countries that had been on the other side of the Iron Curtain looked west, and the European Community had to decide what to do about them. The answer, after more than a decade, was the largest enlargement in the Union's history, followed by further additions and a long list of candidates still waiting. This chapter follows that story, and also records the first departure of a member. Dates and figures are given from general knowledge and flagged where they should be checked.

Why Enlarge?

The arguments for taking in the new democracies were strong, and the arguments against were also real.

The Copenhagen Criteria

At a summit in Copenhagen in June 1993 the member states agreed that the countries of central and eastern Europe could join once they met conditions (check the date and wording). These "Copenhagen criteria" are still the framework for every candidate.

• Political. Stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the protection of minorities.
• Economic. A functioning market economy that can cope with competition inside the Union.
• Legal. The ability to take on the obligations of membership, including adopting the whole body of EU law, called the acquis (check). A later summit added that a country must also have the administrative capacity to apply it.

The Union also reserved the right to consider whether it was itself ready to absorb new members, a point that has become known as "absorption capacity".

The Big Enlargement of 2004

Negotiations began with the first group in 1998 and with others later (check). On 1 May 2004 ten countries joined at once, taking the Union from fifteen members to twenty-five.

Most of the new members held referendums on joining and voted clearly in favour (check the figures; Hungary's was in April 2003 and strongly positive). Bulgaria and Romania followed in 2007, and the Union applied extra monitoring of judicial reform and corruption to them afterwards (check). Croatia, which had been at war in the 1990s, became the twenty-eighth member in 2013.

What Changed After 2004

• Labour migration. Citizens of the new member states gained the right to work elsewhere in the Union, after transition periods. Most existing members imposed temporary limits, but the UK, Ireland and Sweden opened their labour markets from the first day (check). The numbers who moved to the UK were higher than government estimates had expected, which became a significant theme in later British debate (check the figures).
• Money. Large regional funds flowed east for roads, railways and infrastructure. In many towns a plaque on a new road, school or tram line carries the Union's flag, which is explained in Chapter 9.
• Decision-making. A Union of twenty-five or more was harder to run, and the Lisbon Treaty of 2007, in force from 2009, was in part an effort to adapt the institutions (check).
• Rule of law. Some members that joined after 2004 have since faced disputes with the Commission over judicial independence and the media, an unresolved issue (check). The Union has few tools to compel a member that is already inside.

The Waiting List

Several countries are candidates or hope to become so. Progress has been slow and uneven.

• Turkey. It applied in 1987, was recognised as a candidate in 1999, and began negotiations in 2005, which have been effectively stalled for years (check).
• The Western Balkans. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania hold candidate status, with Bosnia and Herzegovina granted it in 2022, and Kosovo has applied (check the current status). Their long wait has caused frustration.
• Ukraine and Moldova. Both applied in 2022 shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and were granted candidate status in June 2022, a speed that was without precedent. Accession talks were opened in 2024 (check). Georgia was recognised as a candidate in 2023, though its path has been disputed since (check).
• Others. Iceland applied after its 2008 financial crisis and withdrew the application (check).

The First Departure

For its first sixty years, every change in membership meant a new member. In 2020 the United Kingdom became the first country to leave the Union, bringing the number back to twenty-seven. The formal route is Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (check). A territory had left earlier: Greenland, part of Denmark, withdrew from the European Community in 1985 after a referendum (check). The full British story, including the referendum and the withdrawal negotiations, is told in European Politics Fundamentals 9, and this course does not repeat it. Its everyday consequences come up in Chapters 5, 8 and 9.

Exercises

Next chapter: Crisis Years: 2008 to the Present, which follows the euro crisis, the migration debate, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.