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.
Slovenia adopted the euro in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008 and Slovakia in 2009. Of the original 15 EU Member States, the UK, Denmark and Sweden retain their national currencies.
Current members (as at end 2009) of the Schengen Area are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Travellers do not need to present a passport or identity card when travelling between these countries.
The key issue today, however, is where does the Community go from here?
After protracted and lengthy negotiations, the Treaty of Lisbon finally entered into force on 1 December 2009. On its website, the European Commission notes that the treaty “provides the EU with modern institutions and optimised working methods to tackle both efficiently and effectively today's challenges in today's world. In a rapidly changing world, Europeans look to the EU to address issues such as globalisation, climatic and demographic changes, security and energy. The Treaty of Lisbon reinforces democracy in the EU and its capacity to promote the interests of its citizens on a day-to-day basis.”
In October 2009, the European Commission issued its Communication to the Council and European Parliament on its Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2009-2010. The conclusions and recommendations from the communication can be found on this page and the complete Enlargement Strategy and Progress Reports 2009 can be found here.
Current applicant countries are Croatia, Turkey, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, the most recent applicant. Potential candidates are Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Montenegro and Iceland.
| |
