European Union Enlargement

This major new text brings together specially commissioned chapters to provide a coherent and comprehensive assessment of the historical and theoretical context of enlargement and its implications for the identity, governance, economics, policies and international role of the EU. Since its first enlargement in 1973, expansion has become a way of life for the EU. The current round of enlargement is, however, unprecedented in its scale, in the diversity of applicants, and in the impact on EU structures and policies. This major new text brings together specially commissioned chapters to provide a coherent and comprehensive assessment of the historical and theoretical context of enlargement and its implications for the identity, governance, economics, policies and international role of the EU.

European Union Enlargement provides a comparative analysis of the post-war European policies of those states that joined the European Union between 1973 and 1995. The volume draws upon new empirical research in order to investigate the policies that these 'newcomer' states have had towards Europe since 1945, with an emphasis on their experience of membership and its possible Europeanising effect. A final comparative chapter draws the national European policies of the 'newcomers' together and outlines what they have brought to the EU. The book also tests integration theories against the available evidence, demonstrating their limited explanatory value and the economic, political and cultural specificity of different national paths towards EU integration.