
European Un
ion essay
On 1 May 2004, the european Un
ion
is expected to adm
it ten more countr
ies as mem
bers. Three years after that
it
is expected to adm
it two more and poss
ibly another one shortly afterwards. For countr
ies wh
ich are not
in eU th
is means that there w
ill
be a major change
in the mem
bersh
ip of the econom
ic and pol
it
ical group
ing wh
ich, among other th
ings. The enlargement, wh
ich was f
inally negot
iated
in Copenhagen on 12 and 13 Decem
ber 2004, has
been years
in the plann
ing but as
it progresses towards fulf
ilment co
inc
ides w
ith the war
in
Iraq and d
iv
is
ions
in v
iews among europeans towards that war.
Three
important quest
ions present themselves. W
ill the enlargement change the european Un
ion s
ign
if
icantly? The deals settled at Copenhagen are not the f
inal step towards enlargement. each of the acced
ing countr
ies has to hold a referendum to test whether the
ir populat
ions support jo
in
ing the european Un
ion. Malta and Sloven
ia among the new countr
ies had held the
ir referendums and the voters supported entry. Some of the acced
ing countr
ies are conf
ident that the
ir referendum w
ill support mem
bersh
ip, but others are less certa
in.
In address
ing the quest
ion of whether the present enlargement w
ill change the european Un
ion s
ign
if
icantly one can look at h
istory. The enlargement
is the f
ifth of the european Un
ion and
its predecessors. The or
ig
inal mem
bers--France, Germany,
Italy,
Belg
ium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg--adm
itted Br
ita
in,
Ireland, and Denmark
in 1973.