The European Union S 2007 Enlargement

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 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.

Among the criteria for accession to the European Union are democracy and the Rule of Law. In the insightful analysis offered by the author of this book, these concepts - while admirable and even necessary criteria in principle - are almost impossible to measure, and any judgement grounded in them will always be difficult to justify. In his words, 'by including analysis of democracy and the Rule of Law within the field of the EU enlargement law, the Union entered an unstable terrain of vague causal connections and blurred definitions.' Dr Kochenov addresses this problem by proceeding as follows: 1. Outlining EU enlargement law in general, including the principle of conditionality and the role played by the analysis of democracy and the Rule of Law in enlargement preparation; 2. Focusing on the role actually played by the monitoring of democracy and the Rule of Law in ten candidate countries, scrutinizing the way the EU used the legal tools and competences outlined in its enlargement law. The book adopts the EU's own understanding of democracy and the Rule of Law, as derived directly from the substance of the numerous legal and political instruments issued by the Community Institutions and especially the Commission in the course of the pre-accession process. In this way it demonstrates the actual - as opposed to the officially announced - role played by the assessment of democracy and the Rule of Law in the candidate countries in the regulation of enlargement. Many formidable inconsistencies in the application of the conditionality principle are thus laid bare. This leads the author to a series of recommendations on policy and procedure that he demonstrates could be profitably applied to the regulation of current and future accessions, using the Commission's own structure of monitoring pre-accession reforms in the three areas of the legislature, executive, and judiciary in candidate countries. The probity and soundness of these recommendations, firmly grounded as they are in the actual pre-accession monitoring and its consequences for the pre-accession progress of ten Eastern European countries admitted to the EU in 2004 and 2007, will greatly interest policymakers and scholars concerned with the future of European integration.

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 book provides the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the development of EU enlargement conditionality across four different enlargement waves - the first (2004) and the second (2007) phase of the Eastern enlargement, the EU enlargement to Croatia (2013), and the ongoing enlargement round involving Turkey and the Western Balkans.

Under the impact of accelerated globalization, transnational integration and international security concerns, the geopolitics of Europe's borders and border regions has become an area of critical interest. The progressive enlargement of the EU has positioned its borders at the heart of recent discussions on the changing nature of the EU, the meaning of 'Europe' and what constitutional shape a more politically unified Europe might take. With enlargement, the EU must elaborate strategies to contend with a fiercely competitive world - and to build fortress-like defences against perceived tensions arising from greater cultural mixing and threats such as terrorism. The authors build up an integral picture of the EU's internal and external borders and borderlands to reveal the processes of re-bordering and social change currently taking place in Europe. They explore issues such as security, immigration, economic development and changing social and political attitudes, as well as the EU's relations with the Islamic world and other world powers. The book embraces an array of disciplinary, ideological and theoretical perspectives, offering detailed case studies of different border regions and the concerns of the local inhabitants, while engaging in broader discussions of developments across Europe, state policies and the EU's relations with neighbouring states. Geopolitics of European Union Enlargement will be of key interest to students and researchers in the fields of European politics, geography, international studies, sociology and anthropology.

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.

The 2004 and 2007 enlargements pushed the EU's external border further east as well as closer to unstable areas in the western Balkans. With future enlargements unlikely in the short-term, the EU faces new challenges in securing stable relationships with these neighbouring countries, while not fostering false hopes of early accession.