Abstract
Since its foundation in the late 1950's, the European Union has seen its membership growing from 6 to 27 countries in 2007, with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. The process might not stop at this point, as other countries such as West Balkans, Turkey, and eastern countries (former parts of the USSR) are also expecting to join the EU as soon as possible. Six rounds of enlargements have been experienced since the foundation of the EU. While each enlargement has raised its own kind of questions and difficulties, both for the applying members and the existing members, the last two rounds, which allowed 10 Central and Eastern European Countries to join the EU plus Malta and South Cyprus, created a situation in which both elites and the population of the EU start to believe that the enlargement process should have an end. Otherwise, the idea of a well integrated European Union supported by its people would be seriously compromised. The rejection of the Treaty on the European Union by French and Dutch people in 2004, the fact that member states elites avoid referendum on enlargement and the general "democratic deficit" increasingly felt towards the EU is a clear indication that the European Union needs now to take stock of its past policies before moving forward.
