Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
are different from other member states, both old
and new, in that they are characterized by an
economically important, long-established mass
tourism industry, largely based on the UK
market, and both have had strong historic links
with Britain. However, the complex issues of
the division and recognition of Cyprus almost
derailed the 2004 enlargement, and, at the time
of writing, still act to complicate the potential
accession of Turkey.
This leads directly into the fifth part of
the topic, which addresses those countries of
South-eastern Europe seeking EU accession in
the projected 2007 enlargement (or beyond). At
the time of writing, it was beginning to look less
likely that Bulgaria and Romania would be on
track for likely 2007 entry, and obstacles still
stood in the way of Croatia and Turkey. Further,
as the chapters in this topic suggest, the not
always positive experience of EU preparation
for, and the subsequent impacts of, the 2004
enlargement, could result in unforeseen conse-
quences for future enlargement decisions.
In the light of the above issues, and within
fluid circumstances, the editors' concluding chap-
ter provides an overall summary of the topic, syn-
thesizes key themes, and offers a future agenda.
now. In the clear light of day the Western
countries for their part could see just how many
obstacles their fellow Europeans would need to
overcome to qualify for accession (Danta and
Hall, 2000). Further, the EU had its own inter-
nal difficulties, not least concerning arguments
over budget contributions and rebates and the
restructuring or even elimination of the CAP.
Euphoria had gradually turned to pessimism as
these issues and the problems of transforming
formerly centralized economies, replacing out-
moded technology and management systems,
and overcoming entrenched political mentalities
became all too real. Additionally, there was the
thorny issue of Cyprus.
That these issues were none the less over-
come, if only in the short- to medium-term, ren-
dered 1 May 2004 a major milestone in modern
European history. This date marked the largest
EU expansion yet, both in terms of area and
population. The accession countries of Cyprus,
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and
Slovenia transformed the EU15 member states
into the EU25 with some 75 million new citi-
zens, to increase the EU total population to
more than 430 million, with an economy valued
at
€
850 billion (Islam, 2004).
In retrospect, the 2004 enlargement can be
viewed as having been driven by a number of
key objectives (Islam, 2004):
The Significance of 2004
The virtual implosion of state socialism in
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the late
1980s necessitated a redefinition of 'Europe'
(Heffernan, 1998; Pinder, 1998, p. vii). Having
thrown off the shackles that had bound them
since the 1940s, the CEE countries - both
governments and populace - were initially
eager to re-join the Europe from which they had
been estranged by the Iron Curtain and Cold
War politics for almost half a century. Equally,
the countries of Western Europe appeared
all too happy to prepare to embrace them. In
particular,
the enhancement of political stability in
Europe almost a decade and a half after
the end of the Cold War that had divided
Europe
●
since
the
Second
World
War
(Woods, 2004a);
the creation of a market and trade bloc
to rival the United States, integrating the
'emerging' economies of Central and
Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean,
with their reserves of both skilled and low-
cost labour; and
●
the generation of a growth impetus in an
otherwise largely stagnating European
economy (Heath and Nelson, 2004).
●
several
countries
of
CEE
saw
membership of the EU as their rightful due.
Although sufficient momentum was main-
tained to sustain the accession of ten new
members in May 2004, earlier high levels of
optimism had long subsided on both sides of
the former divide. The countries of CEE had
soon realized that the Europe they had left
some 50 to 60 years before was quite different
EU Enlargement History and Process
The desire for closer European integration
voiced at the end of the Cold War in 1990
