Abstract
‘EU enlargement generally means increasing the size of the Union by incorporating additional members. This is a process that can take a number of years, as the candidate states attempt to align their economy and regulatory structures to those agreed to by the existing members. The decision to apply means that the candidate state has to agree to accept EU values and pool sovereignty with other members' , i.e., accept ‘vertical' EU integration: the development of the ever intense nature of the integration that exists between member states.' Brigid Laffan distinguishes three components of European Integration: the economic, political and security integration.
There have been 5 waves of enlargement since the ECSC in 1951: the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland joined the EC in 1973, followed by Greece in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. In 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU, while in 2004, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus concluded their accession. Bulgaria and Romania which joined in 2007 completed the fifth wave of enlargement.
Hence, the enlargement process (‘horizontal' European Integration) stands for the ‘widening' of the European Union, while the ‘vertical' European Integration could refer to ‘deepening'. As a matter of fact, the outline for this essay would be: ‘Will the widening process of enlargement threaten further deepening within the EU?'
On the one hand, we see that the EU enlargement process has been a real achievement for the integration project, each time using the three components of European Integration propounded by Brigid Laffan. On the other hand, we will analyze the several (potential and real) limitations of another EU enlargement.
Extract
[...] EU enlargement (past and present) has arguably been a real achievement of the integration project but how far can the EU enlarge and will any potential problems outweigh the advantages? INTRODUCTION 'EU enlargement generally means increasing the size of the Union by incorporating additional members. This is a process that can take a number of years, as the candidate states attempt to align their economy and regulatory structures to those agreed to by the existing members. The decision to apply means that the candidate state has to agree to accept EU values and pool sovereignty with other members'1, meaning to accept 'vertical' EU integration: the development of an 'ever more intense nature of the integration that exists between member states.'2 Brigid Laffan distinguishes three components of European Integration: the economic, political and security integration.3 There have been 5 waves of enlargement since the ECSC in 1951: the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland joined the EC in 1973, followed by Greece in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. [...]
[...] Europe, une géographie. (Paris : Hachette, 1997) Nugent, N. The government and politics of the European Union. (7th ed., Palgrave, 2010) Sjursen, H. Questioning EU enlargement. Europe in Search of Identity. (London, Routledge, 2006) EU enlargement myths and facts about enlargement, (Luxembourg : Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2006) Journals / Articles: Fischler F. (2000) 'The challenge of enlargement' in Frontier-free Europe, No 5-2000 of May Glenn, J. [...]
[...] The political weaknesses of EU enlargement There are several weaknesses that the process of enlargement could create at the political level. Indeed, the enlargement can paralyze the functioning of the EU, and the process of decision-making. Before the fifth enlargement in 2004, Franz Fischler, a member of European Commission was aware that 'this widening process is going to affect profoundly the institutions there can be no enlargement without considerable improvements of the EU decision-making process. When the number of members rise beyond 20, decisions by unanimous vote will become virtually impossible.'36 That is why the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 operated a shift from unanimity to qualified majority voting is a wide range of policy areas, reduced the number of Commissioner (from 27 to 18 members from 2014) and MEP's. [...]
[...] Barnes, 'enlargement does create tensions about the allocation of resources, especially as the need to respond to the budgetary demands of the poorer states will mean some states that are only slightly better off will lose out. Agricultural spending, which dominates the EU budget will remain a prominent issue, as poorer countries seek to gain the same benefits as the richer ones.'40 CONCLUSION We saw that the widening process of enlargement used to complete the vertical integration of the EU, in the sphere of politics, economy and security. [...]
[...] Websites: http://eeas.europa.eu/euromed/index_en.htm http://eeas.europa.eu/eea/ The European Commission Website for the definition of European Neighbouring Policy. Retrieved January 2011. Website: http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/policy_en.htm 'The Lisbon Treaty for Dummies' (May 15, 2008) on the Independent website. Retrieved 27, November 2011. [...]
