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EU enlargement
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Over the last 50 years, the EU has expanded from the original 6 founding countries in 1957 to 27 members today. Bulgaria and Romania completed the “fifth phase” of enlargement on 1st January 2007, bringing ten new countries from Eastern Europe, plus Cyprus and Malta, into a “club” that today represents a population of 493 million.
There are still a number of outstanding matters that the new Member States need to address including adopting the euro and implementing the Schengen accord. The expansion of the Union to 27 members also has implications for indirect taxation, excise duties and VAT. Latest news on progress in these areas will be posted here.
The key issue today, however, is where does the Community go from here?
At the European Council meeting in Lisbon on 13th December 2007, the EU Member States signed the Treaty of Lisbon. The signing of the Treaty was to be followed by ratification in all 27 Member States and it was hoped that the new Treaty would come into force on 1 January 2009. However, the rejection of the Treaty in a referendum in Ireland in June 2008 has put the implementation process on hold. The European Council will review the issue again at its final meeting in December 2008 “in order to define the elements of a solution and the approach to take for 2009”. More information and news about the Lisbon Treaty is available at a new European Commission website.
The press release accompanying the European Commission’s 2008 annual report on EU enlargement, published on 05 November, notes that “Enlargement serves the EU's strategic interest in stability, security, and conflict prevention. It has helped to increase prosperity and growth opportunities, to improve links with vital transport and energy routes, and to increase the EU's weight in the world.”
The present enlargement agenda covers the Western Balkans and Turkey, and the Commission commented: “The Western Balkan countries' advance towards EU membership can be accelerated, provided they meet the necessary conditions. It should be possible to reach the final stage of accession negotiations with Croatia by the end of 2009, provided that Croatia fulfils all the necessary conditions. The pace of negotiations with Turkey will continue to match the pace of reform in the country.”
The FYR of Macedonia is also a candidate country, although negotiations on accession have yet to begin. Potential candidate countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99.
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