EU enlargement is an unfinished process of enlargement of the European Union, which occurs due to the accession of new states. This process began in six countries. In 1952, these states founded the so-called European Coal and Steel Association, which actually became the predecessor of the EU. Currently, 28 countries have joined the Union. Negotiations on the accession of new members to the EU are ongoing. This process is also called European integration.
Terms
Currently, the EU enlargement is accompanied by a number of formalities that countries wishing to join this Union must comply with. At all stages, the process is controlled by the European Commission.
In fact, any European country can join the European Union. The final decision on this issue is made by the EU Council after consultation with the European Parliament and the Commission. In order to receive approval of the application, it is necessary that the country be a European state in which the principles of democracy, freedom, human rights are respected, the rule of law exists.
The condition for obtaining membership is strict compliance with the following criteria:
- compliance with the Copenhagen criteria approved in 1993;
- stability of power and public institutions that guarantee the rule of law and law, democracy, human rights, protection and respect for minorities;
- the presence of a working market economy that is able to cope with competitive pressure, as well as market prices existing within the Union;
- the ability to make membership commitments, including commitment to the key economic, political, and monetary goals of the Union itself.
Process
The EU enlargement process is long enough for most countries. Before submitting an official application, the state must sign an agreement of intent to join the EU. After that, his preparation for candidate status begins with the prospects of further entry into the Union.
Many countries cannot meet the criteria necessary even to start negotiations. Therefore, many years pass before preparation for the process itself begins. An associate membership agreement helps begin preparations for the very first step.
First, the country officially requests membership from the European Union. After that, the Council asks the Commission to express an opinion on whether this state is ready for the start of negotiations. The Council has the right to accept and reject the opinion of the Commission, but in practice the contradiction between them occurred only once (when the Commission did not advise to start negotiations on Greece).
When negotiations open, it all starts with a check. This is the process during which the EU and the candidate state evaluate and compare the internal laws and laws of the Union, establishing significant differences. When all the nuances are resolved, the Council recommends that the negotiations themselves begin, if there are a sufficient number of common ground. In fact, the negotiations consist in the fact that the candidate country is trying to convince the Union that its administrative management and laws are so developed that they can comply with European law.
History
The organization that became the prototype of the EU was called the European Coal and Steel Association. It was founded in 1950 by Robert Schumann. Thus, the steel and coal industrialists of West Germany and France managed to unite. The Benelux countries and Italy also joined the project. They concluded the so-called Paris Treaty in 1952.
Since then, they have come to be known as the "Inner Six." This was done in opposition to the "External Seven", which were combined into the European Free Trade Association. It included Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria and Portugal. In 1957, a treaty was signed in Rome, with which the unification of the two societies began after the merger of their leadership.
It is worth noting that the community that stood at the origins of the EU has lost many territories due to the decolonization process. For example, in 1962, Algeria gained independence, which before that was an integral part of France.
Throughout the 60s, the expansion of the number of participants was practically not discussed. Everything got off the ground after Britain changed its policy. It is believed that this happened due to the Suez crisis. In the EU, along with it, several countries applied at once: Ireland, Denmark and Norway. But then the expansion did not happen. New members are accepted only with the unanimous consent of all members of the Union. And the French president Charles de Gaulle vetoed, fearing the "American influence" of Great Britain.
De Gaulle's departure
The departure of de Gaulle from the post of French leader led to the fact that the EU enlargement policy began to be implemented. Denmark, Ireland and Norway, together with Great Britain, again sent applications, having received immediately preliminary approval. However, in Norway, in a referendum, the government did not receive popular support for joining the Union, so its accession did not take place. This was the first EU enlargement.
The next in line were Spain, Greece and Portugal, in which in the 70s it was possible to restore democratic regimes, which was one of the key points in joining the Union. Greece received admission to the community in 1981, two states from the Iberian Peninsula in 1986. This was one of the first waves of EU enlargement.
In 1987, non-European powers began to apply for membership. In particular, Turkey and Morocco did this. If Morocco was refused almost immediately, the process of Turkey’s accession to the EU continues to this day. In 2000, the country received candidate status, four years later official negotiations began, which have still not been completed.
End of the cold war
An important event for the entire world geopolitics was the end of the Cold War, the confrontation between the USSR and the USA officially ended by 1990. The formal symbol of the end of the Cold War was the reunification of East and West Germany.
Since 1993, the European Community has become officially called the European Union. Such a provision was contained in the Maastricht Treaty.
Moreover, some states that border the Eastern Bloc have applied for EU membership without even waiting for the end of the Cold War.
Next stage
The further history of EU enlargement was as follows: in 1995, Finland, Sweden and Austria joined the Union. Norway again made an attempt to join the EU, but the second popular referendum also failed. This was the fourth stage of EU enlargement.
With the end of the Cold War and the so-called “westernization” of the EU Eastern bloc, it was necessary to define and coordinate new standards for its future members, according to which it would be possible to objectively assess their compliance with European values. In particular, on the basis of the Copenhagen criteria, it was decided to make the main criteria the requirements that the country should have democracy, a free market, as well as the consent of the people obtained in a referendum.
To the East
The most massive phase of EU enlargement occurred on May 1, 2004. Then it was decided to join the Union immediately 10 states. These were Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Malta and Cyprus. By territorial and human indicators, this was the largest expansion. Moreover, in terms of gross domestic product, it has become the smallest.
Almost all of these countries were significantly less developed, unlike other EU members, primarily in economic terms. This caused serious concern among the governments of the old-timer states and the population. As a result, decisions were made to introduce certain restrictions on hiring and for crossing the borders by citizens of new member countries.
The expected migration that began led to the emergence of political clichés. For example, the concept of "Polish plumber" has become popular. At the same time, after several years, the benefits of migrants to the economic systems of the European countries themselves were confirmed. This was one of the outcomes of EU enlargement to the East.
New members
The Union itself officially considers the entry into the Union of Romania and Bulgaria the end of the fifth stage. These two countries, which in 2004 were not yet ready to join the EU, were accepted into the "European family" in 2007. Like the ten countries adopted three years earlier, they were subject to certain restrictions. In their political and social systems, experts noted the lack of progress in key areas, such as the judiciary. All this led to subsequent restrictions. This has become a serious problem for EU enlargement.
The last country that has currently joined the EU is Croatia. This happened in 2013. At the same time, most of the representatives of the European Parliament note that the adoption of Croatia into the "European family" was not the beginning of future expansion, but a continuation of the previous, fifth, which ultimately was designed according to the "ten plus two plus one" system.
Expansion plans
At the moment, several countries are negotiating at once. The EU declares that they are ready to accept any European democratic state with a free market, which will bring national legislation into line with the requirements of the European Union.
Currently, five countries are in the status of candidates for EU membership. These are Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. At the same time, accession negotiations have not yet begun in Macedonia and Albania.
Experts believe that Montenegro, which is second after Croatia in terms of compliance with the requirements of the Copenhagen Agreement, has the most chances to join the EU in the near future.
In the near future
Among the new EU members, Iceland was also considered, which filed an application in 2009, but four years later the government decided to freeze negotiations, and in 2015 officially revoked its application. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been the last to file. This happened in 2016. The country has not yet acquired candidate status.
Also, an association agreement with the EU was signed by the three republics of the former Soviet Union - these are Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
Back in 1992, Switzerland filed an application for EU membership, but at a referendum that same year, most residents of this country spoke out against this integration. In 2016, the Swiss parliament officially revoked its application.
As the leadership of the European Union itself has repeatedly stated, plans for expanding the community in the Balkans are in future plans.
EU exit
In the entire history of the existence of the European Union, not a single state has yet left the EU. A precedent has appeared recently. In 2016, a referendum was held in the UK, at which the British were invited to express their opinion on the further integration of their state into the European Union.
The British advocated withdrawal from the European Union. After 43 years of participation in the work of EU bodies, the kingdom announced the launch of exit processes from all European institutions of power.
